Nugent, BC ‘12, brings shades of home to Diana Center art

With red hair and quiet New England sensibility in tow, Jenna Nugent, BC ‘12, an Art History major with a Visual Arts concentration, met me at the entrance to the new Diana building, where her work is currently featured on weekdays.

While the transition to life in New York is easy for some, Nugent’s transition from Hampton, New Hampshire —a town of 15,000 people—often leaves her longing for home. For Nugent, the landscapes of Vermont are inspiring, and she sometimes uses photographs of her family’s farmhouse to keep her connection to her home region.

It provides the perfect subject for the artist who favors oil painting, simply because, she said, “it takes so long to dry so you can manipulate, blend, twitch it until it dries.”

At once the ideal scene of Northern Woodlands forests and New England beaches, the setting allows her to do what she loves the most: figure out where the light is coming from and make the painting “sparkle.”

Her favorite artist of the moment, Peter Doig , is also a master of layering colors and creating spaces. She says that it is his ability to make his paintings “sparkle” that encourages her to do the same.

The landscapes of her life keep her grounded—Nugent finds that walks in Riverside Park help to clear her mind. Still, her good luck charms are reminders of home. A green jade bangle, a gift from her father from a trip to China, and a delicate silver cross necklace, a constant reminder of her faith and values, give her the extra nudge to complete what she starts.

Nugent described herself as creative, a good listener, and someone passionate about her art, about her dancing, and about learning. She found it a little tough to identify three bands, alive or dead, that she would like to have at her dream concert because she “gets most of her music from her friends,” although she eventually decided on State Radio , Coldplay, and Lady Gaga.

Being around family and friends and talking to her mom on the phone keep her at peace in a city that has been known to swallow artists looking to paint beautiful scenes of nature whole. But, friends and family, gave her advice that seemed to stick: “Remember that real life is more important than school.”

While it may not be so easy to remember to take a breather amongst papers, midterms, and the race for summer internships, Nugent seems to see the forest rather than the trees. My short time spent picking Nugent’s brain left me feeling the same way she says she does during her favorite part of winter, right after the first snow: peaceful, curious, and a little bit excited. While I only got a light dusting of her personality, it is clear that familial and rustic influences have granted Nugent the inspiration needed to be one of Barnard’s most exciting new artists.