Zoe Hersey’s experiences with nature are central to all of her creative thought and activity. For her, nature is not just a landscape but also the dynamism of visual elements—an event rather than an appearance. Her paintings are a vision of nature poised against a romantic backdrop dealing with such themes as intuition, passion, seduction, tragedy, transcendence, and the sublime.

Hersey’s translation of nature into paint involves a brave and honest introspection while maintaining an attitude of joy and passion. She paints because it is a “life affirming” commitment. The image of life as a river and the theme of flowing existence are frequently used in her paintings as a metaphor for the magnificence of life, with its constant changes, death, decay, frailty and resilience.

Hersey’s paintings are a comment on our relationship with ourselves as well as a reflection on the human condition. In them, we confront not only the character of the earth but human character as well. It is her goal that her paintings provide a release from an overly rational view of the world to one which allows greater freedom of thought and feeling.