Human Natured: Newfoundland Nudes

Sheilagh O'Leary s images, often seared with blasts of light and carved out of vivid darkness, boldly fix the human form on the rocky cliffs of the Newfoundland coast, or in a quiet pool or river. Whether outdoors or in the studio, the human figure is sculptural in her work. It is sometimes textured with superimposed motifs from nature: shrubs on the forest floor, or the lacy patterns of light on water, or the bark of a tree. Nakedness becomes a metaphor for what is essential about human experience, how the body defines us, how we express ourselves physically, and how we belong to the landscape and are also apart from it.