Nancy Jackson

Chick Hatching
wood, paper mache, paper, gouache
10.5 x 13 x 3 in.

Unicorn Larva
wood, paper mache, paper, polymer clay, gouache
9.5 x 14 x 3 in.

Owl Magician
wood, paper mache, velvet, gouache
21.5 x 13 x 3 in.

I think of my works as fragmentary connections to a symbolic inner world. The sculptures are both planned inventions and improvisational sites in which the process of construction can involve unusual materials, made-for-the-purpose tools, deconstruction and replanning, and further study, revealing questions about a creative making of the world and a practice of allowing the object to lead. Ancient craft art and Surrealism have been inspirations for arranging and developing work but I also study ideas in natural history, science, psychology, dreams, and ritual ‘art’. Often there will be a motivating idea which animates my process, but which is not necessary for the viewer to know about. For example, in this set of dioramas, I thought about the fragile nature of magic…but that the things which threaten or undermine it are not necessarily inherently bad.

© Nancy Jackson