| The work of Norah Pierson beckons and entices its viewers. Her visual language changes with the different objects and forms that she incorporates into her pieces. Some of Norah’s work is fairly simple, some outrageously ornate. It draws on everything from ancient Rome to Lost in Space. There is a delightful sense of humor in Norah’s work, but never at the expense of beauty. It’s the result of her years in Italy, the California coast, and hours spent hiking in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico.
Raised in New England by her sculptress/painter mother and historian father, Norah spent her childhood in museums, studied at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and later apprenticed with goldsmith Joseph Nolan of Laguna Beach, California. Most of her forms are cast from wax, a medium that allows her to play with surface textures. Look closely at her work, and you will find the textures of fish scales, sea urchins, a broken taillight, bones, and wood. “I believe in tactility,” she says. “I love the curls and swirls of art nouveau and the geometry of art deco.”
Norah’s passion and innovative artistry are best described in her own words. “I’m a collector. I can’t go for a walk without coming home with pockets full of rocks, bones, and interesting pieces of wood. Everything is collected with a purpose – for visual stimulation. As an artist, I’m an ‘eye-junkie.’ I need constant visual stimulation, a new form to look at, a new visual treat.”
Norah’s imaginative forms and varied textures are cast or fabricated in high-karat gold and set with the finest pearls and colored stones from around the world, often custom-cut to her specifications. The result is sometimes Byzantine, sometimes space age, but always luxurious and always essentially Norah. |
