Artist Statement

I am an American acrylic and mixed media artist who creates highly textured substrates using layered or cradled panels, molding paste, collage, paint, and other objects and mediums. In my work, which is a fusion of my previous career as an illustrator and my current work as a fine artist, I combine a visual narrative with contemporary abstract and textural elements.

During my upbringing in a strict Catholic household, there was a great emphasis on the ‘mysteries’ of our faith, which was supported by the iconography and ceremony during the Mass. However, after several profound spiritual experiences, I moved away from Catholicism and have broadened my beliefs to include a study of astrology and reincarnation as well as the development my clairsentient abilities, all of which now figure prominently in my art.  

I also incorporate symbols from old cultures and religions, including Etruscan iconography, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, and illuminated medieval manuscripts into my art. With a focus on metaphor, spiritualism, and a connection to my higher self, the art I am now producing has largely shifted towards a more accurate portrayal of who I am today.

My work has also evolved into an artistic homage I pay to my mother and aunts and their knowledge and love of fabrics and sewing. Textiles were ever-present in my childhood home. With very little discretionary income, my mother resorted to making our clothes, often from discarded clothes and rags peddled through our neighborhood by an elderly Italian ‘rag man’ (as a very young child, I was terrified of him!). As the Rag Man pushed his cart up our road, Mom would go outside to comb through his cart of discarded clothes, and, because she could spot high-quality fabrics, would select the best to wash and recut into clothes she sewed for us.

Many of the designs printed on those fabrics have become patterns in my work, such as in the “Portals” series. In order to create my current textural and complex work, I often marry those now-vintage fabric motifs with the iridescent colors reminiscent of the religious pageantry of my youth as well as those derived from ancient cultures.

Nancy White Cassidy