Nataliya Hines
"Warden of the Elderwood'
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
19” x 14”
$1,800
"Warden of the Elderwood'
Acrylic on Stretched Canvas
19” x 14”
$1,800
Warden of the Elderwood is the first acrylic painting study I’ve completed for a new series of
paintings titled Meet the Machine, which continues my exploration of themes from Event
Horizon: the intersection of art, technology, and the human search for meaning. It blends
elements of high fantasy, science fiction, and religious iconography with art historical references,
reflecting on how we shape reality in an increasingly algorithmic world.
This piece draws on the figure of Hylde Moer, or the Elder Mother, a spirit from English and
Scandinavian folklore who protects the Elder tree. The theme of nature as divinity recurs
throughout my work since 2023, modeled after pagan and folkloric figures. Her black Victorian
dress is in reference to one worn by an unnamed 19th-century woman pictured in an ambrotype
in my collection.
Her wooden hands, first depicted in Cicada, suggest to me an entity that’s both mechanical and
organic. The arch’s ornamentation references circuit board patterns, pointing to where our
instinct to assign divinity may lead as our environment becomes less physical. The woods are
modeled after Ducks in the Woods(1875) by Julie Hart Bess. This painting is a study for a larger
work in progress.
paintings titled Meet the Machine, which continues my exploration of themes from Event
Horizon: the intersection of art, technology, and the human search for meaning. It blends
elements of high fantasy, science fiction, and religious iconography with art historical references,
reflecting on how we shape reality in an increasingly algorithmic world.
This piece draws on the figure of Hylde Moer, or the Elder Mother, a spirit from English and
Scandinavian folklore who protects the Elder tree. The theme of nature as divinity recurs
throughout my work since 2023, modeled after pagan and folkloric figures. Her black Victorian
dress is in reference to one worn by an unnamed 19th-century woman pictured in an ambrotype
in my collection.
Her wooden hands, first depicted in Cicada, suggest to me an entity that’s both mechanical and
organic. The arch’s ornamentation references circuit board patterns, pointing to where our
instinct to assign divinity may lead as our environment becomes less physical. The woods are
modeled after Ducks in the Woods(1875) by Julie Hart Bess. This painting is a study for a larger
work in progress.
