Exponential: 4 Artists Explore Infinity

My work is very much concerned with materiality. I love the physical process of making art, working with encaustic paint, treating metal with chemicals, pounding all those tacks. The objectness of art is IT for me rather than the portrayal of something. My art is something rather than represents something.

"Material World," 2011, 36" x 36" x 1.75" - found and fabricated materials on panel with tacks and encaustic

(Note: My works in this post are included in "Exponential: 4 Artists Explore Infinity" and you can click on all the images  to make them enlarge.)

Postcard for the show at Mt. Ida College in Newton, Mass. featuring the work
of Sand T. Kalloch

When my Facebook friend, Catherine Carter, invited me to show my work in an exhibition she was curating, I was pleased to be invited and happy to say yes. She developed the theme for the show of exponential. I am still not quite sure what that means except that it has to do with math and expansion, but I do understand the concept of infinity. That concept, which I am thinking of as boundlessness, would not have occurred to me in relation to my work, but I've been giving it more thought.

"The Black One," 2011, 36" x 36" x 1.75". found and fabricated materials on panel with tacks and encaustic

My work does not involve figure and ground (the classical description of what painting is) so it could be considered either all ground or all figure. There are no outside boundaries to it and it could continue in any direction into infinity. That is one link to the theme.

"As Sweet As Honey," 2011, 36" x 36" x 1.75" found and fabricated materials with dominoes,
tacks and encaustic on panel

Another link is the infinity of ideas for paintings that artists have. One painting leads to another, leads to another, and so on into infinity. I can just imagine a whole spiraling line of paintings stretching off into the ether, each one related to the preceding or the following or maybe making a precipitous jump in a new direction.

"Red No. 2," 2010-2011, 10" x 8" x 1.5", found and fabricated materials with
tacks, encaustic and oilstick on panel. 

Tonight at the opening, I, and the other three artists in the show will each be giving a talk about our work. I have several ideas about infinity and how it relates to my work, so I hope you'll be there if you are nearby. Otherwise, you'll just have to visualize that line of paintings spiraling off into the ether.

"Red No. 3," 2010-2011, 10" x 8" x 1.5", found and fabricated materials with
tacks, encaustic and oilstick on panel.

Here's a video peak at the show made by Catherine Carter.

'The Resonance of Time"

I named my solo show at Arden Gallery, Boston, "The Resonance of Time" because the concept of time is an important influence in the composition of work in this series. I wanted to emphasize that the work in my show metaphorically represented memories stitched together over time, and this work belongs to my series "The Running Stitch." More about time, memory and composition after the photos.

In the window on Newbury Street, "Singing The Blues"

A Look Around the Gallery
For one reason or another, I was unable to take installation photos of the show and my good friend Lynette Haggard came to my rescue. Nearly all of the photos here were shot by Lynette, and I appreciate her work on my behalf. (Note: Click on each photo to enlarge. Also note that if you want to see any of this work more closely, you can take a look at my website or at the Arden Gallery website).

Entering the gallery. On the right is "Coleman Hawkins"

Here you see the back of the bar set up for the opening.
The piece on the brown wall is "Look At America."

On the window wall is "All Good Intentions"; the two small works to the right
of that are "Red Letter Day" and  "A Novel By George." 

Left to right: "This American Time," "Believing Destiny" and "All Good Intentions."

Left to right: "Purple Haze," "This American Time," "Believing Destiny."

Left is "Right Vocabulary" and right is "Next To Me."

Closing with a peek into the window at "Singing the Blues."

A Boston Globe Review
My show received a very nice review by Cate McQuaid in The Boston Globe. Here's the final summation:

"There’s something ruminative about all these elements together. They may not seem connected, but they coalesce into something fervent, intimate, and hopeful."

More About Memory, Time and "The Running Stitch"
As is well documented, memory is selective, subject to change as years pass and not always accurate. Memories of people and events may be expanded or contracted and may cease to bear any resemblance to the way events actually happened. Or some trivial thing may take on exaggerated importance in memory because of events that happen afterwards.

So although the idea of memory serves as a framing device for my work, it's not really an active tool. That is, when I am composing my work I am not actively seeking to compose or directly represent a memory -- either my own or someone else's memory. Cate McQuaid was right that this work is "ruminative" or "contemplative." Putting the many elements together in my work is like painting but painting by using strips of materials for each stroke. Of course, I also do a lot of painting and other preparation beforehand to create the elements I use.

The Importance of Color
As I have worked on the Running Stitch series over the past two years or so, I have come to realize that color is probably my most important consideration. When the idea for a piece comes to me, color is one of the first things I think about. Recently, and particularly in the work made for this show at Arden, I have begun using blocks of colored elements. Within the dominant color, I include many others to make the piece less monochromatic and to get the color to "sparkle" or activate. This color "trick" was brought home to me by observing works made by the great El Anatsui who inserts all kinds of colors and materials into his brilliant metallic wall hangings.

A closeup of a portion of an Anatsui work just viewed at his gallery in New York.

Horizontal Composition Equals The Landscape of the Mind
For people who may not be familiar with sewing terms, a "running stitch" is a runalong stitch usually used in basting something to be sewn later with a more permanent stitch. A running stitch is just one thread that is holding fabric together. If you cut the thread, the stitch will pull out because just one thread connects all the individual stitches. When I began the horizontal organization of my work in the Running Stitch series, I was looking at architecture, tile, Asian gardens, screens and the way a running stitch appears on fabric. I became fascinated with the combination of horizontals I was seeing everywhere. Landscape has never been my "thing," but of course the horizontal usually equals landscape.

Rather than representing actual landscape, I thought my work would be more a landscape of the mind, and that, of course, is not only thought, but also memory and time. When you start thinking about time, you are really thinking about "mortality and immortality, and permanence and change, so that concepts of time are of fundamental importance in the study of religion, philosophy, literature, history, and mythology." (from Time and Memory) That's a lot of heavy stuff, but it's all there in whatever we do -- with the possible exception of all those dumb reality shows.

It's Not Really Real; It's a Painting
Apparently some people who view my work think that I am representing specific memories or that the work is autobiographical in some way, but that is not the case. I am making paintings, constructed paintings, and not writing a memoir. Of course things make their way into the work that appeal to me, but I am not aiming for nostalgia or one point of view. Even if I use a particular book or record album, it's not all about that certain artifact. I actually think about all these materials as the great mishmash that confronts all of us every day - from all kinds of sources - television, the internet, advertising, politics, books, magazines, newspapers, conversations and what-all. How do we make our way through all this stuff? How do we choose what to keep and what to discard? Do we really have any choice about what sticks in the mind and what dissipates over time?

Here's a detail from "Look At America" showing a portion of the mishmash.

Having Fun and Hiding Text
While visuals may be most important eye attractor for visual artists, text is usually the focus for most people, especially those who can read (a little joke there). The way I try to use text in my work is to have it be present but not attract too much attention. I want the viewer to have to seek it out instead of having it overwhelm a painting. At the same time, I like the look of text even without thinking about meaning. Since the age of six or so I have always been a great reader and I like text -- both printed and written. I think it adds richness and represents abstracted human thought. But sometimes I don't want the painting to reveal just what I'm thinking. That may be my secret motivation.

Confronted with my own great mishmash of stuff in my studio, I somehow have to choose what to include and what to leave out. Sometimes that process is more deliberate than others. I enjoy seeing old advertisements and book titles. I view them ironically from the standpoint of today's continual irony. Sometimes I take them at face value and enjoy their meaning. I do not deliberately set out to create nostalgia, but sometimes it happens just from the materials themselves originating in other periods and having that look.

My Expanded Statement
Somehow this post has turned into an expanded statement about my work. It's part of the artistic process that once we create art, it's out there and we want people to look at it. People interpret it as they will. No matter how much we, as creators, try to impose our meaning on the art, the meaning comes to exist independently of us; it lives in the art itself. People have their own interpretation of the work and their own opinions of what we have made and what we mean. Artists are unable to control what those opinions are. Perhaps we artists don't even realize what we are making sometimes and it's up to other people to reveal it to us. I guess that's what art history is for.

Ten Things I've Learned From Art

I've probably learned more than ten, but that's just to pique your interest. Everybody likes a list, don't they? You can find my list later in this post.  (By the way, you can click on these images to enlarge them.)

A photo from my show at R&F Paints - in the hallway outside the gallery is Ambit and on the right are four pieces from the Text Messages series

The Solo Show 

So where have I been for a couple of months? I've been right here working in the studio, working at my part-time jobs, getting most of my brain sucked away by Facebook and following politics. Those last two items are pretty much interchangeable.

The big event of my summer, after the Encaustic Conference of course, was my show at R&F Paints in Kingston, New York. That show began on August 6th and is up until September 22nd. There is still time to see it if you are in the Hudson Valley area. Here's the link.

What a fantastic pleasure it's been to have a show at R&F! First of all, R&F (major manufacturer of encaustic paint) is where I was introduced to encaustic painting some years back. At that time I could never have envisioned being invited to be a Visiting Artist at R&F and have a solo show of my work, so it's a thrill to have achieved this honor and milestone in my career.

Laura Moriarty's shot of three gallery walls plus a peek into the hallway.

Two small blue pieces plus Blues For Etta, 48"H x 60" W - one of my favorite pieces

(You can see more installation shots of the show on my website, nancynatale.net, link here, as well as a wonderful review written by Lynn Woods of The Kingston Times.)
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Secondly, the people of R&F are just great - all very friendly, helpful, aesthetically minded and pretty laid back - a winning combination! Laura Moriarty, Gallery Director, was a pleasure to work with and installed the show with ease. She also mentored me in my three-day Bricolage With Wax workshop, giving advice and assistance where needed (and there were times I definitely needed it).

The Visiting Artist Workshop

Students working in R&F's airy studio facility

More students working

The central table full of bricolage "stuff" for student use plus reference books

Tools for students' use plus student work on the shelves in the background

Class pour of encaustic with embedded materials

The workshop was attended by nine hard-working and enthusiastic students. The mission was to make works of fine art using found objects with encaustic where the objects were not the focus of the works but were used to add another layer of meaning to the works. The objects had to lose their individual identities and become transformed into parts of the whole. This can be a tricky task, especially when you are working with plastic alligators and other easily identifiable things. I'm going to post some photos of student's work on my Art of Bricolage blog later in the week.


What About That List?
Yes, it was a come-on, but I'll give the list a shot, as follows:


Ten Things I've Learned From Art
1) Be persistent
2) Tackle the impossible by starting with the possible - or vice versa.
3) Make lists.
4) Tear things out of magazines and newspapers at will. One of these days you'll look at them.
5) Anything can be an inspiration
6) You will not understand anything you are doing until you have been working at least 20 years.
7) Don't be afraid to be simple and direct.
8) Keep a pencil and paper beside your bed (not a pen because it won't write upside down).
9) Marry someone who loves art (and you).
10) No matter what, it's worth it.

And on my other blog...

On Art of Bricolage I have posted images of people and their works made in my post-conference workshop on Wax + Bricolage. There is still one more workshop and one more post coming.

A work by Maria Lara-Whelpley that uses a bunch of stuff but makes it her own.

My Bricolage Workshop and Show at R&F Paints

Last year Laura Moriarty, Director of Exhibitions and Workshops at R&F Handmade Paints, invited me to be a Visiting Artist during 2012. R&F's Visiting Artist Series "is designed to celebrate the work of teaching artists" and entails teaching a three-day workshop with a concurrent solo show. Of course I was thrilled to say yes and have been so looking forward to the opportunity to teach Bricolage: Making Fine Art with Found or Invented Materials and Encaustic.

The workshop at R&F Handmade Paints

The dates of the workshop are August 1 through 3, Wednesday through Friday. Here is the link directly to the workshop on the R&F website. There is still room in the class to sign up and you will find all the details by clicking the link.

A paint liquid paint pour at R&F

The incomparable R&F paintsticks

Taking a workshop at R&F is a wonderful experience because you get to work with state-of-the-art equipment, all those fabulous paints and the terrific R&F staff - all so friendly and welcoming. This place is like Mecca for artists who work in encaustic and a definite destination for your life list.

Natale: Shifting - Blue, 2012, painted cardboard and paper, book parts, record album
pieces, rubber, tarpaper, treated metal, tacks and encaustic on birch panel, 24" x 24"

The workshop link will give you details on what will be covered over the three days, but briefly, the workshop will be an expanded version of  my one-day workshop at the Encaustic Conference. In learning to use objects and mixed media with encaustic, my emphasis will be on composing works that integrate intention and materials. Critical thinking, observation and analysis will be an important part of this workshop and the three-day span will give students the opportunity to really push themselves and build on what they learn about their own work and mode of expression. My blog Art of Bricolage will show you some examples of student work from the Conference sessions, but this workshop will allow the opportunity to experiment and develop a small body of work along with a process to be used for making future works.

The gallery at R&F

My solo show at R&F will open on Saturday, August 4th, and run through September 22nd. I will be showing new work in bricolage (that I am constructing right now). Workshops students will be able to view the exhibition with me and I will give a  talk on the work for them, addressing examples of what has been discussed in the workshop.

If you are interested in using mixed media in your work and/or if you want to understand a more effective way to develop your studio practice, I hope you will sign up for this workshop. Although we will be making serious art, we will have plenty of fun doing it and it will be three days well spent.

Conference Shows: Kobalt Gallery

During the recent Sixth Annual Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, I had the pleasure of participating in five shows in four commercial galleries plus Gallery X (the library) at the Castle Hill Center for the Arts. I thought I would share some photos of those shows so you can see the high caliber of the work included in them. (click on photos to enlarge)

Right wall of Kobalt Gallery on entering.

The show at Kobalt Gallery, juried by owner Francine D'Olimpio, was titled Confluence: Water and Light and included works by 35 artists selected from those who had submitted images. This show is what we refer to as "the conference show." There was a size limitation of 24" in the largest dimension, and I think that keeping the work to this smaller scale allowed for breathing space between works that gave the show an expansive look. Also, the blues, turquoises, greens, grays and mostly soft cool colors made for a cohesive and pleasing presentation. It was a great-looking show.

My piece, Remnant of a Dream, is the striped one in the center of the wall above. I am very pleased to announce that it was given the Juror's Award! Of course, I failed to get a separate photo of it as I did of the other two works that won awards, so I'm showing you a close-up below of a photo from my file.

Remnant of a Dream, 2011, 24" x 24" x 1.75", painted cardboard and metal with tacks
and encaustic on panel - Winner of the Juror's Award

David A. Clark, Vers La Nuit, 2010, 15" x 15" x 4", encaustic, paper and object on panel.
Winner of the Director's Award.

Patricia Malarcher, Segment of the Second. I'm sorry I don't have details on this work
but it appeared to be a sewn textile that had been dipped in encaustic,
size about 12"H x 16"W (as recalled and estimated).
Winner of the Castle Hill Award.

A part of the left wall as you entered the gallery. (Note Patricia Malarcher's piece at
top.) Other works I recognize are Dora Ficher's diptych near the corner,
Binnie Birstein's yellow/pale blue piece
and Elena De La Ville's work at top beside Patricia's.

For a better look at some of the works in this show, take a look at this link from the Encaustic Blog. That will do them much more justice than my images here.

Here is Francine D'Olimpio, gallery owner, who was suffering from a cold and about to
go home to rest. Her show selection and installation were outstanding.

Two shaped pieces by Shelley Gilchrist at the foot of the gallery stairs.

Part of the upstairs back wall. Note those red dots beside two works by Debra Claffey and Alison Golder!

This piece by Deborah Kapoor was a favorite of mine. The photo on the encaustic
blog is much better and shows you the dimension of this work.
It is called  Merging Light, 2012,  18 " x 13" x 3.5", and is shibori with encaustic on kozo paper, fabric, string.

More work on the upstairs wall. I recognize those three pieces in the foreground are
by Kellie Weeks.

Here's the piece at the end by Susan Lasch Krevitt., Race Point Sunrise, 2012,
18" x 14" x 1.5", wool, stitching, encaustic, oil glaze on panel

What a pleasure to have the conference represented by this lovely show and to have so many artists get to exhibit their work in Provincetown. Seeing actual work in person makes all the difference, just as meeting a person in the flesh that you have only known through email and Facebook is a revelation. Having this opportunity to meet, talk, laugh, and bond together is what makes the conference such a wonderful experience and why we can't wait to do it all over again next year!

First Conference Report

I'm mixing things up a little by making my first conference report about my Pre-Conference Workshop on Wax + Bricolage in my other blog - Art of Bricolage. Here's the link. Hope you enjoy seeing some student work. More to follow from the other two workshops I taught during Post-Conference Week.

Way off in the distance from the beach behind the Provincetown Inn,
what else by the Provincetown Monument.

Meanwhile, on this blog, I'll be posting some info about the Provincetown shows relating to the conference, my conference talk and more. It's a lot to dig out from so I'm talking it slowly. After all, I do have another year before Conference 7!