This December, Arcadia Contemporary is presenting a rare joint show featuring Miriam Hoffmann and Caroline Nelson, two artists whose work is distinct in style, but who share an acute sensitivity to the nuances of figurative portraiture and the skill to bring them to life on the canvas.
Miriam Hoffmann, Fated, oil on linen, 36 x 24 in.
Nelson’s soft, atmospheric portraits and figurative scenes are deeply rooted in old painting traditions she says have vanished from standard university art training. She feels it is her duty to uphold them by bringing classical paintings into the contemporary world.
“My visual language in painting is a focus on the rich depth of color, beautiful rendering, strong light and accurate form modeling,” explains Nelson. “Beyond the constant pursuit of creating a technically proficient image, I am also searching for how to represent themes of truth, harmony, femininity, passage of time from youth to adulthood, peace, and tenderness that are beautifully depicted in the great paintings of the past and to add to that great tradition.”
Caroline Nelson, Awaiting, 2025, oil on panel, 24 x 18 in.
In her portraiture specifically, Nelson has been focusing on how to manipulate light and shadow to create volume, use gaze and expression to maximize emotional impact, accentuate skin luminosity, and select fabric and dress that best support the timeless quality she is trying to achieve. Most of the figures in Nelson’s paintings are family members. As one of six children, she has a lot of subject matter to choose from. But when she wants something specific she’ll look for models on Instagram. She meticulously stages her photoshoots, from the lighting to hairstyles, clothing and background. “I am very specific about the poses I orchestrate that are inspired by themes I’m studying, and compositions in paintings and photography from the 1800s that I admire,” Nelson explains. A series of drawings ensue, which she eventually transfers to her painting surface. “I try to keep in mind the classical techniques of painting—light, form, color harmony, measurement, etc., and I like to incorporate elements from the classical paintings of the past that I like.”
Caroline Nelson, Veiled, 2025, oil on panel, 16 x 12 in.
The human form has enthralled Nelson since she first saw da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks when she was a little girl. “It has never left,” she says. “Figures in painting can be representations of greater themes but also intimate studies of humanity and all of its complexity. The poignancy and depth of figurative paintings has survived generations and I am just one of thousands and thousands with a continued love of the harmony and beauty of the natural world, and a desire to honor it by depicting it in painting.”
The guiding aspiration for Nelson’s painting practice is to “pursue and represent ‘the Good, the True, and the Beautiful,’” an artmaking philosophy passed down by her teacher Henry Wingate, who had adopted the ethos from his teacher, Paul Ingbretson.
Miriam Hoffmann, Melanie, oil on linen, 36 x 24 in.
“That doctrine has been a foundational cornerstone to my artistic path,” shares Nelson. “I aspire to create timeless paintings, not necessarily seeking to relive the past, but build upon the hundreds of years of realistic tradition of celebrating greater themes of humanity, both poetically and beautifully.”
Hoffmann’s work is also classically inspired but, compared to Nelson’s, has a sharper, more contemporary edge. The shadows are blacker and borders more crisply defined; skin a milky-blue white. Her subjects gaze out with a stark, but alluring, bluntness. “I’m deeply inspired by the Old Masters, by their use of light and form and composition, by the way they tell uniquely human stories through the figure,” says Hoffmann. “It’s honestly the only thing I’ve even been interested in painting. For me there is this sense of participating in a ritual that is old as time. I think there are so many different stories you can tell with the figure.”
Caroline Nelson, Lilies of the Field, 2025, oil on linen, 20 x 16 in.
The inspiration behind her latest work, which will be featured alongside Nelson’s from December 18 through January 10, 2026, in New York City, is largely the same as what drives all of her work—“the quiet complexity of human emotion and the tension between vulnerability and composure…Capturing moments of stillness, where my subject exists in a place that feels both distant and intimate. It’s a place I feel myself retreating to, and I hope the viewer connects with.” —
Miriam Hoffmann, Among the Blossoms, oil on linen, 40 x 30 in.
Arcadia Contemporary 421 W. Broadway • New York, NY 10012 • (646) 861-3941 • www.arcadiacontemporary.com
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