Finding the human experience through art is part of the healing process for Atlantic Beach artist Nancy “Niris” Iris.

After a debilitating car accident in 1988, the former CFO of an apparel manufacturing company in Los Angeles started taking art classes as therapy and discovered portraiture painting.

“I really think who a person is, is really different than what they look like on the outside,” Niris said.

“I take pictures and spend time with a person to try to find out who you really are. I paint the personality and then put the face on top. It’s about having a human experience.”

Niris said art teacher Maura Parent of San Luis Obispo, Calif., inspired her to continue painting and sculpting while she  was rehabilitating from a traumatic brain injury and injuries to the entire left side of her body. When she came to Jacksonville Beach to visit her son, Dylan James, a local disc jockey, she said, she never felt as good as she did when she entered the Atlantic Ocean.

“The warm ocean water has a magical quality,” Niris said.

“When I go in the ocean I feel a lot better, even in the winter. I’m like a disabled mermaid.”

In 2005, her son drove cross country to move Niris to Atlantic Beach. She brought a half a ton of stone for sculpting, all of her art and a few personal items. 

After being on disability for nearly 21 years, Niris applied for the PASS (Plan for Achieving Self Sufficiency] program through Social Security and was accepted. She set up a studio and gallery in her home in Atlantic Beach and has an online gallery of her work at www.nirisstudio.com. She has 18 months to succeed in her career as an artist through the PASS program, or revert back to disability.

“I want to work but I can’t work outside of my home and even to try to do shows is difficult because of my health problems,” Niris said. “I want to let the community know I’m here and you don’t have to go through a gallery.”

Niris does commissioned portraiture and carves figures and vessels out of stone and wood. She welcomes the community to view her work in person at her home in Atlantic Beach (904-372-4877 or niris@nirisstudio.com). One of the first paintings in the living room of her home gallery is a self-portrait titled, “Warrior: The Very Long Road Home.”

“It’s a self-portrait but it’s not about me; it’s about how every human being has struggles but we all get up and we face the day,” Niris said.

“It’s about putting one foot in front of the other no matter what the challenge is and not letting anybody keep you down.”