by Laura Bernardeschi Nelson

Artwork Description

After the Fire by laura Bernardeschi Nelson

35.0 x 45.0 cm

After the Fire Oil pastels and recycled materials on paper, 45 × 35 cm Framed, varnished, and signed on front and back Laura Bernardeschi Nelson (2025) In After the Fire, Laura Bernardeschi Nelson explores the fragile threshold between destruction and regeneration within the natural world. A forest stands shrouded in rose and ember tones, its vertical forms blurred by heat and smoke. At the base of the image, a tangle of black recycled netting evokes the charred remnants of undergrowth—both scar and seed of renewal. The work speaks directly to the environmental crises of our time: the recurring wildfires that reshape ecosystems and test the resilience of life itself. Yet within the intensity of the pinks, reds, and ochres lies a quiet pulse of hope—the suggestion that even amid devastation, nature carries the memory of rebirth. Nelson’s use of oil pastels allows for velvety transitions and luminous color fields that vibrate between warmth and mourning. The inclusion of recycled netting once again links her material practice to the theme of sustainability, transforming waste into metaphor. The varnish unifies the surface, amplifying the tension between fragility and endurance. Dimensions: 45 × 35 cm Medium: Oil pastels and recycled net on paper, varnished Condition: Original work, signed front and back, framed and ready to hang Artist’s Statement “I painted this forest as a memory of survival. The black net represents what is left behind—the ashes, the remains—but also the roots of a new beginning. Even destruction can be the ground for renewal if we learn to protect and restore what we have burned.”

Artwork Details

Medium: Painting Pastel

Genre: Expressionism