I HAD A DREAM ABOUT A HUGE SCULPTURE IN SPACE AND THAT DREAM PROMPTED ME TO START SCULPTING; I STARTED SCULPTING THAT DAY AND HAVEN’T LOOKED BACK!

New York City-born and raised artist Nina Winters attended the College of Fine Arts and Architecture at Cornell University, and the School of Visual Arts and Parsons School of Design before moving to New Hampshire. Today, Nina splits her time between studios in Clearwater and the backwoods of New Hampshire. We recently caught up with Nina whilst in Clearwater to talk about her career, inspirations and artwork.

You began your career in painting. How did you transition to sculpture? I always wanted to be a sculptor, but got caught up in the painting program when I was at Cornell; it was very good and interesting. Much later, I had a dream about a huge sculpture in space and that dream prompted me to start sculpting; I started sculpting that day and haven’t looked back! I sculpt mainly in bronze, sometimes in aluminum, and have just started working with glass, which I’m incorporating into the bronze. Everything is opening up – it’s a very beautiful time for me.

From where do you draw inspiration that is reflected in your work? I spend most of my summers in New Hampshire, in a beautiful studio I built a long time ago, overlooking Mount Monadnock, and on the water where I live here in Clearwater. Like a lot of artists, I draw inspiration from wherever I am. I travel a lot as well, and actually just returned from France and Ireland, but also draw inspiration from my travels to South Africa, the Seychelles and South America. A lot of my art reflects those moments when I would just see something you know, when something hits your heart. I try and take a moment of emotion

and passion in a broad sense and turn it into sculpture.

What are a few of your favorite pieces, or is that like asking which is your favorite child? No, I do have favorites. “Angel of Peace” is a piece that begs people to consider being bigger than themselves. The sculpture depicts a beautiful young mother with wings wearing all white, holding a child. It’s a very inspirational piece, and I’m hoping to find a partner to a backer for the sculpture so that we can present it as a gift from America to France or Belgium, in light of the recent tragedies in those countries.