Factory: Reconsidered

Black Relics

	Nancy Natale, Cauldron, 1995 , 18" x 12"

I am looking for transformation in this work: the "straw" of mundane materials becoming the "gold" of a work of art. I want to make works that seem to have had another life and exist as the remains of something that has gone before-a religion, a game or a culture. My aim is to achieve the mysteriously enduring presence of icons, totems or fetishes and to provoke the conflicting emotions which ritual objects evoke: attraction/repulsion and desire/fear, for example. The emotional conflict seems to be about mortal existence and humanity's place in the perpetual organic cycle of birth-decay-(re)birth.

The constructed paintings or low - relief sculptures in this exhibition are called "Black Relics." Their organization is influenced by both industrial objects and the inherent order of the natural world, just as my life is.

The work is assembled from recycled and found objects attached to wood with tacks or nails. It seems to make itself, without much direction from me, as, piece by piece, one tack follows another, causing rusted metal, threads, keys, synthetic and natural fragments to join, all aligning into intricate patterns, revealed to me only when completed. The surprise of the unfolding design compels me as I concentrate on the more task-driven aspect of hammering in hundreds of tacks and watch the works take form under the guidance of intuitive feeling. My more conscious final adjustments and tweaking of content, texture and surface take place only after a period of discovery allows me to become familiar with what has happened so far.

I enjoy making this work and experiencing the discovery inherent in its creation. Whether or not viewers experience the emotional response to my work that I hope for, I want the work to provide a meditative or contemplative place for their eyes and a connection to the tactility of the earth.

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Education: BFA, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA,1988; BA, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA, 1971. Solo Exhibitions: Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Provincetown, MA; Mass. College of Art, Boston, MA; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA; Somerville Public Library, Somerville, MA; Cambridge Center Gallery, Cambridge, MA; Children's Museum, Boston, MA; Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, MA; Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA; Brown University, Providence, RI; Selected Group Exhibitions: Univ. of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO; A.I.R. Gallery, NYC; Provincetown Art Assoc., Provincetown, MA; Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, NH; Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY; Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA; Salve Regina University, Newport, RI; Brickbottom Gallery, Somerville, MA; Tufts Univ. Art Gallery, Medford, MA; Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA; Rugg Road Gallery, Somerville, MA; Boston Corporate Art Gallery, Boston, MA. Grants & Awards: The Pollack-Krasner Foundation; The Millay Colony for the Arts; Somerville Arts Council; Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities; DeCordova, Museum.