Today we’d like to introduce you to Nancy Wood.
Nancy, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
My father was a silversmith and worked in product design for the plastics industry. Our entire basement was taken up by his silversmithing studio, his huge drafting table and plastic prototypes. I was not particularly encouraged to learn, but I absorbed a lot just observing. We lived in Central Massachusetts back when high schools “tracked” students. On the College Track I was not allowed to take art classes! I remember walking down the hallway with the art rooms and peaking in with tremendous jealousy. My mother arranged for me to take a painting class outside of school one time but mostly I taught myself how to draw and use pastels. In college I studied biology and chemistry. Being a student in the city and having access to great museums was exciting and educational. I studied the Cezanne’s and Van Gogh’s at the MFA. I vividly remember visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York during my college days and seeing a Rothko for the first time-I burst into tears. I have since heard it is not an uncommon reaction from people moved by his work, but it left a lasting impression on me. Following a major accident my junior year I was immobilized for several months. I started drawing from my bed to pass the time. That experience reconnected me to art making. I still work in the Biotech/Pharmaceutical industry, but in my late 20’s I went back to school and studied painting at Massachusetts College of Art and Design and have been juggling art and science ever since.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I work in oil, acrylic and mixed media collage. I have only recently decided that my painting is about painting. How can I make an interesting image on a 2D surface that that is compelling enough that you want to spend some time figuring it out? A unique space comes into existence because of the compositional design or color relationships. The inspiration and images can come from science, math, nature, anywhere really, but once I appropriate them they are released from their original meaning and become tools that I can use to fashion a new meaning. I spent a long time trying to make my images refer back to their origins before I realized they were not always meant to. I love line, geometry, fractals, color and am intrigued by how the eye and mind perceives an image. It’s exciting when a painted space appears flat one moment and deep the next, or it seems still but there’s movement at the same time. It’s all about creating an illusion and this illusion can induce a kind of hypnotic effect that is very interesting to me. I love it when I am fooled by my own paintings and have to study them again. When a painting is working, a meditative, reflective moment happens that I hope viewers can also tap into. The world is particularly stressful and depressing right now, and if I can create a respite for people, a time they can just slow down and look and feel some delight or joy or refreshed or calmer or just intrigued enough to investigate the painting surface for a moment, then the work is a success.
Have things improved for artists? What should cities do to empower artists?
I am lucky that I have the opportunity to support myself in the Biotech Industry, having studied something “practical” before studying art. But that has its downsides too. It’s a time-consuming career that takes me away from painting more than I would like. It used to be much easier financially to be an artist in Boston before all the gentrification and sky rocketing rents. It would be helpful if Boston and surrounding communities committed more resources to supporting artists, particularly around affordable housing and work spaces. In the art community there is also a lot of discussion about local museums supporting local artists more with shows, in addition to exposing viewers to the national and international art scene. There are so many thought provoking artists’ right here that deserve more exposure. There is no easy solution except to say that if you are compelled to make art then you just have to keep making it and look for every opportunity to get your work seen. Instagram has been very helpful in getting my work seen, and the Boston Voyager interviews with local artists is a great idea. I’m honored to be included!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I am a member of Galatea Fine Arts in SOWA at 460 Harrison Ave in Boston. I will have one or two pieces in the upcoming member’s show this December at Galatea and a solo show in July of next year. My work can be seen and purchased on line at Turning Art as well as well as from my website. I am a member of Concord Art Association and Cambridge Art Association. As a member of the Cambridge Art Association Art Rental Program my paintings are out and about at local businesses in the area. My studio is in Somerville and I participate in the Somerville Open Studios (SOS) in May.
www.nancy-wood.com
www.Galateafineart.com
www.turningart.com
www.somervilleopenstudios.org
Instagram @woodsprite52
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nancy-wood.com
- Phone: 16175297089
- Email: woodsprite52@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram@woodsprite52
- Facebook: facebook.com/nancy.wood.18847
Image Credit:
Nancy Wood
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
