UNDRGRND ARTIST: HOLLY HERBERT
DECEMBER 2ND, 2022
Each week 100 NFTs are minted and randomly airdropped to UNDRGRND Membership Cardholders. To find out how you can be featured as an UNDRGRND Artist check out our Discord.
Abstract art can be difficult to unpack, until you speak with the artist. The second an abstract expressionist artist cracks open a door to let you into their world, you’re are given the key to understanding their work.
Holly Herbert’s work revolves around themes of solitude and chaos. When you lack control over your own health you could understand why a lot of her work appears to be from the viewpoint of someone seeing things from a distance.
Sky Goodman wrote about Holly’s work for UNDRGRND DIGS 016, “Her work, Looking Out, on Teia hints at looking out a window at cityscape of some kind. As all good expressionist work does, the viewer's psyche seems superimposed on the scene itself, where the viewer and the viewed cannot be separated. The bold swift lines are emotional and express a sense of freedom and movement. The scene moves and comes alive, presenting a strong mood. I want to look out this window; I want to explore. And this is how I feel when I look at all of Holly's work. A sense of mystery and exploration tickles my senses, begging me to go deeper into the work. There is a lot here.”
This seems accurate when you hear how Holly creates her work.
“I often have feelings of spontaneity when creating a piece,” Holly says, “especially if it is a physical piece. I think this is an essential emotion when painting, even more so when the work is abstract. It captures an element of human nature and gives an uncontrolled, exciting quality to a piece. Much of life is unexpected and uncontrollable, so a haphazard splash of paint can portray much more than one might think.”
“I don't necessarily think that throwing paint at canvas and specifically painting with purpose/meaning have to be separate from each other,” she continues, “Sometimes the purpose of a piece is to be free and loose and careless. Other times you may have something meaningful you want to depict and an expressive mark is needed to illustrate that.”
When words cannot capture a feeling abstract art can become the tool for communicating.
“Abstract art is one of the purest forms of appreciating art,” Holly says, “It has the ability to elicit of visceral and often unexplainable response. Abstract art doesn't rely on the literal or the familiar to induce emotion, and I think this can result in a much deeper appreciation and connection.
Art can provide an avenue of escape for the artist. It can be their way to communicate to the world what they feel without words. Holly creates to feel free, allowing her to escape from the solitude and isolation of beings trapped or in her home. NFTs have brought about an avenue for her to express herself to an even wider community. To show her audience what the world looks like from her viewpoint, so we all understand this place a little more.
