In Standing Nymph, abstract and classical figurative elements are combined in a most contemplative work. The background treatment evokes Rothko’s multiforms. The gold and umber tones provoke thoughts of nature: autumn leaves and tree bark. The girl stands in a pensive, almost ambiguous pose; half of her existing in our world, the other half part of another. Her gaze is distant. Her eyes long for moments filled with song and dance. She is conflicted and clutches herself, in search of a kind of safety, as her purity (symbolized by the white drapery) slips away from her bare skin.
At first glance, we immediately feel like this composition is a representation of womanhood. There is something very warm and sirenic about this piece. The milky sheets that are cascading around her lower body remind us of a blossoming flower. I love how the sunlight is gaily echoing her creamy peachy skin tone. The golden strands of her hair are both romantic and inviting. She is exuding an uncanny Amazonian confidence. Her strong stance is brilliant and the femininity of the dimples in her lower back trace all the way up to this woman peering into the sun. This mysterious woman is proud, alluring and refreshingly free.