Soap Bubble Set

Solid forms grow and appear to wobble in Gladys Nilsson’s watercolor. Figures seem to defy gravity and scale shifts unpredictably. Nilsson based the central woman on herself, and the mustachioed man wearing shades of blue resembles her husband, the artist Jim Nutt. Soap bubbles abound—in her hands, drifting to the bottom left of the composition, and made by a woman with a bubble pipe at lower right. Each bubble contains its own narrative scene, suggesting magic or memory at work. Nilsson regularly plays with fantasy and reality in her art, allowing viewers to bring their imaginations to bear on her meaning.