Gallery & Backstories
A personal journey through the experience of living with scoliosis, expressed through art.
Each painting translates complex emotions into color, movement, posture, and form. Beneath the surface lies a personal story - one that may reveal itself through unexpected details, hidden symbols, and small discoveries woven into the artwork.
Explore the Backstories behind each piece, uncover the Easter eggs tucked within the paintings, and discover the deeper meaning behind the shapes, colors, and details that might go unnoticed.
The Back story:
The Shape I Carry
Artist: Nina Place
Title: The Shape I Carry
Materials: Acrylic and mixed media and fluid art on canvas
Size: 18 x 24 inches
Availability: Giclee prints available
The backstory: For years, when people asked how I was feeling or how my back was doing, I struggled to find the words. Living with scoliosis meant carrying not only the physical pain, but also the frustration, exhaustion, and emotional weight that came with it.
After spinal fusion surgery, I returned to painting and began exploring a way to express what I couldn't easily explain. I started with an acrylic pour, allowing the unpredictable movement of the paint to take shape. As I worked, I began to see something familiar emerging: the twisting, complicated shape of my own spine.
This painting became much more than an image of scoliosis. It became an expression of everything I had been carrying inside.
When I finished it, I cried. Not because I was sad, but because, for the first time, I felt I had found a way to show others what living with scoliosis really felt like.
This was the beginning of my journey of finding a voice through art and giving shape to the things that are often difficult to explain.
The Back Story:
Inner Tide
Artist: Nina Place
Title: Inner Tide
Materials: acrylic fluid art, acrylic on canvas
Size: 24 x 36 inches
Availability: Giclee prints availabl
The backstory: Before my spinal fusion, my boyfriend had taken me on vacation to the Gulf of Mexico. I was in considerable pain, but something wonderful happened when I slipped into those beautiful warm aqua waters. As I floated, I could relax, let the water carry me, and simply roll with the tide. For a little while, I could forget about my pain.
Those colors stayed with me long after I left the water. Even today, I can close my eyes and imagine those soothing aqua tones surrounding and filling me, bringing a sense of calm and relaxation to my body and mind.
Created through an acrylic pour, The Inner Tide grew from a memory. The flowing colors became a way to immerse myself once again in those healing waters - a place where I could let go, find stillness and simply be.
The Back Story:
Timber
Artist: Nina Place
Title: Timber
Materials: Acrylic fluid art
Size: 30 x 24 inches
Availability: Giclee prints available
The backstory: Hiking is something that I love, but living with scoliosis has added a layer of fear to something that should feel freeing: the possibility of falling.
I've often described my falls as when a tree goes over, there is no bending or twisting to catch myself. I'm pretty sure I hear someone yell "Timber" while it's happening! This painting captures that feeling. The uprooted tree represents the sudden loss of balance and control, while it's broken limbs reflect a very real reminder of my vulnerability: the arm I fractured in a fall this past summer.
The painting is full of movement, details, and unexpected discoveries. That busy, unpredictable energy feels much like my own experience of living with scoliosis. Not everything is in my control, but I keep finding reasons to get back up and move forward.
The Back Story:
In The Turning
Artist: Nina Place
Title: In The Turning
Materials: Acrylic fluid art
Size: 12 x 24
Availability: Giclee prints available
The backstory: The twisting and turning of the spine is complicated, and so is living with scoliosis. In this painting, I explored that complexity through flowing colors, unexpected patterns, and movement. As I worked, I began to see the possibility of beauty within something that can be emotionally challenging.
When a friend looked at this painting it reminded her of the Mardi Gras masks, the colors and playfulness of the design, but also much deeper was the observation and connection to the mask. What we reveal to the world and what remains hidden beneath the surface. She knows me well. We may appear colorful, playful, and composed on the outside, while carrying pain, discomfort, and struggles that others cannot see.
Perhaps this painting holds truths: the beauty we can discover within complexity and the reality that lies beneath it.
The Back Story:
In Quiet Company
Artist: Nina Place
Title: In Quiet Company
Materials: Acrylic fluid art
Size: 24 x 70
Availability: Giclee prints available
The backstory: During a walk with my sister she had noticed two enormous trees leaning on each other. They had clearly grown that way, their trunks naturally shaped by time and circumstance. They were beautiful and in full support of each other.
Their form made me reflect on my own life and the people who have helped hold me up through my challenges of living with scoliosis. My partner, family and friends have given me a support system I deeply cherish. Their presence reminds me that we don't always have to stand entirely on our own.
In Quiet Company - is a tribute to that kind of connection - the quiet steady support that doesn't need words to be felt. It is also a celebration of the beauty that can emerge when two lives grow alongside one another.
At 70" long, this painting is best experienced in person. As the light moves across its surface, the metallic gold strokes glisten and shimmer, revealing a beauty that photographs can only hint at.
Sometimes, the greatest beauty is found in the way we grow together.
The Back Story:
Beyond the Curve
Artist: Nina Place
Title: Beyond the Curve
Materials: Acrylic fluid art and mixed media on canvas
Size: 30 x 24 inches
Availability: Giclee prints available
The backstory: What began as a photograph of my back became an unexpected landscape and a winding journey. An acrylic pour created the dramatic colors and textures that eventually transformed into a road traveling through the curves of my spine.
Along the way, you'll find a few road signs offering familiar warnings: Curves Ahead, Caution, and perhaps the most important reminder, Don't Let That Stop You.
There are hidden details, too. The signpost subtly resembles the rods and screws used in spinal fusion surgery, a quiet reference to my own journey.
The woman resting on the rock, accompanied by her dog, represents taking a moment to pause, appreciate the journey, and keep moving forward.
Living with scoliosis means navigating unexpected turns, but it doesn't mean the road ends there. Sometimes the most important journey is learning to look beyond the curve.
