While Nieto maintains that his art "is the
result of an emotional involvement with my subject matter rather
than a cerebral one," his powerfully evocative paintings reveal a
seamless blend of instinct and keen intelligence. His deft handling
of Western motifs - including Native American tribal
representatives, warriors, and ceremonial dancers, as well as
legendary frontiersmen or indigenous wildlife - demonstrates why
these icons still loom large in the national consciousness. Wielding
his brush with precision and control, Nieto invests each figure with
a mesmerizing presence.
His personal philosophy plays a large role in
his approach to art. "I employ subject matter that is familiar and
express it from my own perspective," he explains. Nieto's
extraordinary ability to project the essential core of his
subject-viewed within the context of his own uncompromising
vision-accounts for the seemingly impossible task of communicating
the stately qualities of these figures without any trace of
condescension or hyperbole. |