Brain Storms

Nancy Alter

March 14- April 23

 

Artist  Opening:
March 21 at 2 pm

 

Artist Statement
Sometimes we have to face difficult news which is beyond our control and presents challenges.  This series of works, both on paper and canvas, expresses my experience with receiving difficult news, facing it, and finally adjusting to it. In 2006 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and began this series two years later, finally bringing it to closure in 2010. It is with gratitude that I was able to use visual experiences to work through this challenge.

These works explore the organic and clinical structure of MS and my responses to it. At first I felt somewhat detached from these images and approached them clinically, as in "The Study" and "Gray Matter."  As I worked through the series, I became more emotionally connected to the images and reflect this involvement in my later works which include "Turmoilî", "Brain Storm", "Tangled", and others.
   
I created the acrylic on canvas pieces in parallel with the collagraphs and monotypes. The earlier works explore the forms and shapes one sees in x-rays and MRI’s. The later works encompass my emotional responses to these forms. Whether it be a work on canvas or on paper, I was principally concerned with action, texture, and space. I used the paint and the canvas surfaces to dictate my painting technique and chose materials in my collagraphs to emphasize those elements. In the monotypes I used a reductive method to handle those issues.

Many respond to this work by relating the forms to birth, biological organisms, and even to landscapes. Those responses are legitimate and not in conflict with the works’ origin as I believe that in the many varieties of nature, form and shape repeat.  So it is quite natural to respond to my work in this same way.

Biography
Ms. Alter re-entered the art world in 2004 after a long and successful career in Information Technology. She received a B.A. in Art Education from Glassboro State College, now Rowan University, in 1970 and taught art in the Cherry Hill School System for two years. From 1970 to 1976 she was a productive artist showing locally. Later she continued to work at developing her painting skills and techniques, albeit at a slower pace, while pursuing a career in the corporate world. Now retired, she is working as a fulltime artist.

Recent showings include Old City Jewish Art Center, Artist Equity Select Exhibition in Trappe, PA, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Ambre Studio in Bethlehem, Rosemont College, Villanova University, the Philadelphia Sketch and Plastics Clubs, and  The Free Library of Philadelphia.

Awards include: Michael Lusachin Award from the American Color Print Society November 2008, second place from Ambre Studio for ìLacquer and Gold – Asian Estheticsî November 2007, and honorable mention from the American Color Print Society October 2006. Ms. Alter’s work is included in the permanent collection at the main branch of The Free Library of Philadelphia and in several private collections.

Professional associations include the Cheltenham Printmakers Guild, American Color Print Society and Artist Equity.