Studio  July 15, 2024  Amy Funderburk

Nerys Levys Sketches for Climate Change Awareness

Nerys Levy & FRANK Gallery

Nerys Levy, Ice Form, Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic, acrylic paint on Arches paper.

Artist Nerys Levy feels that art is a “soft introduction” to climate change awareness, because viewer engagement presents the opportunity for dialogue. “People know very little about [the] polar regions and their real role affecting climate change,” she says.

Born in Holywell, North Wales to a Welsh speaking family, Levy moved to the United States in 1979 after marrying an American anthropologist. She has lived in Carrboro, North Carolina for the past 33 years. She began her career in race relations, community work, and education. During that period, Levy worked in India, the Caribbean, South Africa, and London. 

As an artist, Levy has continued to travel widely. Her artistic expeditions have included trips to Italy, the two polar regions, China, and Russia. “I have worked freely in all places, believe it or not. Often photography is prohibited, but never sketching!”

Photo credit Nerys Levy

Nerys Levy, Nesting Chinstrap penguins, Antarctic Peninsula, Acrylic paint, acrylic and Japanese ink on paper, 40”x25.5”, 2018

Employing a use of form and limited space reminiscent of Milton Avery, with a strong contour line like Alice Neel or Georges Rouault, Levy has woven these stylistic elements from the strands of her own personal history. 

Influenced by her native Welsh culture which “reveres landscapes and nature in both poetry and music,” the artist’s creative journey began with her grandfather. A Welsh poet and artist from Snowdonia, he would “go outside with me and look at the landscape and describe it” in Welsh, she recalls. 

With views of the River Dee estuary and beyond, to the Irish Sea and England, Levy says she “grew up looking at vistas” every day. “I was aware of the power of nature,” shares the artist.

Courtesy Nerys Levy

Nerys Levy, Melting Sea Ice #1, Svalbard, Norwegian Arctic, Acrylic ink and paint on paper, 30”x23”, 2024

Working on-site using her water-based media on paper, Levy portrays what she calls the “forms and forces of nature,” often creating a series of the same subject “in shifting light, seasons and weather.” She always starts with a drawing— a step she considers essential before abstracting any subject matter. 

While she cites the later works of Picasso as one of her primary influences, her travels have shaped her approach the most. Levy’s linear work became more pronounced during her time in China through exposure to calligraphic influences, as well as what she describes as a minimalistic depiction with ink and line. “I was very interested in the way they could depict atmospherics: very, very simply,” adds the artist.

Photo credit Nerys Levy

Nerys Levy, Antarctic sketch book - elephant seals and penguins, Water-soluble pen and watercolor, 2007

Levy then braved the “huge, forbidding area” of the Antarctic, a landscape that taught her to produce quickly, for practical reasons. “Working in the Antarctic left no time for anything other than minimal representation and rapid lines,” she explains.

The Antarctic boasts the coldest temperatures of any continent, so to prevent her water bottle from freezing, she had to keep it on her hip. She was encouraged by her expedition's doctor to pack light. This meant keeping her art kit very simple, working only with a small pocket paint box of watercolors and water-soluble pens.

Photo credit Avery Danziger

Aerial View, Newfoundland, 60” by 40”, Acrylic and Japanese ink and acrylic paint on paper, 2020

Of her sketches, Levy explains, “The line became very important because of the rapidity required to record what was going on.” In the Arctic Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, however, the polar bear is considered the greatest threat. Located between the North Pole and Norway, this area is warmer now due to climate change, the artist reports.

Levy continues to create paintings from her polar sketch books, describing them as the “underlying form” of her work. She often enlarges sketches as a basis for larger paintings. “I do take a photograph of the venue, but this is just a guide. I always work with the basic sketch for authenticity,” she explains. “My sketches take me right back to the place of origin and the emotions generated there.” 

The artist is currently addressing the impact of Australian bushfires on the Antarctic polar ozone layer through her new series— evocatively titled Warming Skies in which she is metaphorically pushing color by adding more pink.

Photo credit Nerys Levy

Nerys Levy, Antarctic Vista, Acrylic paint, acrylic and Japanese ink on paper, 23”x30”, 2018

Levy is also active in a humanitarian project that provides an arts foundation and social support for Karen refugees. A distinctive tribal group from the southern Himalayas in war-torn Burma/Myanmar, the Karens are persecuted by the government. They now live in refugee camps on the Thailand/Myanmar border. 

Previously working in West London’s Indian Community at the height of the Asian Migration from Uganda helped Levy to understand the experiences of the Karen refugees. Around twelve years ago, the founder of a Karen language school wanted to bring children to the FRANK Gallery, a non-profit space in Carrboro, NC that is listed on the Art & Object Marketplace.

Since they had no television in the camps, the children would draw. If they ran out of pencil and paper, they would draw with rocks, says Levy. Eventually art classes were held for some of the children. “They were exceptional artists,” she says.

Photo credit Nerys Levy

Nerys Levy, Ice in trauma, Antarctica, Mixed media: watercolor and water-soluble pen on paper, 2022, 23”x30”

One of the students later attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for fine arts; he now teaches at the Children's Museum in Chapel Hill. In a full circle moment, Levy shares that they are now merging the FRANK Gallery program with the Children's Museum. “I am first of all an artist,” declares Levy, “but [I] see art and arts enrichment as empowering – [as well as] the empowerment facilitated by education.”

About the Author

Amy Funderburk

Amy Funderburk is a professional artist and freelance arts writer based in Winston-Salem, NC, specializing in visionary works in which she explores the intersection of the physical with the more fluid, spiritual and emotional realms. She works out of the Sternberger Artists Center in Greensboro, NC, and maintains a blog, Drinking from the Well of Inspiration, to provide deeper insight into her creative process. Follow her on twitter: @AFunderburkArt and on Instagram: @AmyFunderburkArtist.

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