Hello again! And welcome to the latest edition of Creative Reflections!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of viewing the work of Natalie Wadlington at The Library Street Collective here in downtown Detroit. I stumbled across the display while getting some well-needed fresh air after a week of staying inside due to extreme cold temperatures. I was instantly drawn to the invitingly warm color palette of the paintings; a contrast to the dim and gray cityscape before me. Wadlington’s work was truly a breath of life on that mundane Friday afternoon.

Natalie Wadlington "Pollards" courtesy Library Street Collective

Natalie Wadlington is a New York-based artist from Modesto, California, who studied and earned a MFA in painting at Cranbrook Academy of Art here in Michigan. She specializes in painting wide-eyed human forms in allegorical driven narratives. “Pollards," the collection on display at the Library Street Collective, is based on Wadlington’s experiences as a young person. The collection feels nostalgic by nature; it’s familiar in the sense that mostly all of us have shared the same experiences of exploring and figuring out the world in our younger years as we grow and learn. The ages of the people depicted are left purposely ambiguous, as a form of transition between childhood and maturity. Each painting is a framed snapshot, a sentimental ode to the past, from the depictions of people lodging in the grass and playing around a fountain, to the warm to cool colors of the perpetual background setting of a sunset-filled sky.

Image courtesy Library Street Collective

At first glance, one may say her work invokes the influence of Pablo Picasso. But, in my eyes, Wadlington’s work reminds me of one Diego Rivera (or, as I like to call him, Frida Kahlo’s husband), who was inspired by Picasso and the cubists movement, but made the aesthetic his own. Though her works don't depict the struggles and fortitude of the working class, there’s still a profound understanding of the human experience in her work that one could experience while viewing a Rivera piece.

Natalie Wadlington "Pollards" courtesy Library Street Collective

One interesting element to her works stood out to me; the eyes of the animals depicted. In Most of her paintings, Wadlington includes at least one animal, typically a dog. That alone is a fun element to any painting, but the interesting detail is in the eyes. While the eyes of the humans are static and obstructed most of the time, the eyes of the animals are always visible and focal. The eyes are an instant draw to the form. The wide and lively orbs give off an almost feral expression, giving the animals a sense of vigor and danger. Most if not all of the energy is carried through their eyes; a stark contrast of the human forms, as their personalities are driven by movement and positioning. An initial detail on Wadlington’s part, as she views the anthropomorphising – or the human-fication of animals as both beneficial and detrimental to the animals and, at large, the environment.

Overall, my time with the exhibit was a phenomenal one. Wadlington’s work is full of life and symbolism that is a great time to decode and ruminate over. At the time of submitting, Wadlington’s works will be on display until February 21, 2024. I encourage anyone reading this review to visit the Library Street Collective in Downtown Detroit and view the gallery in person.

‘Til next month, stay weird and be creative!