Nancy Larner, Found Art
Sculpture
303-674-4660
nancylarner@gmail.com
Artist's Statement:
As far
back as I can remember, scrounging has always been a way of life for me. I
delight in discovering the potential a found object has within it. The prospect
that the "find" can become an entirely new and unpredicted outcome is thrilling
to me. I have designed jewelry, created a multitude of needlework crafts, and
used garage-sale furniture to paint mountain scenery. These days it's "Recontrivancies,"
sculptures constructed from vintage metal parts (the rustier the better) such as
doorbells, typewriter keys, water faucet handles, can openers---you get the
idea. When I'm working in my studio a piece might "tell" me what it wants to be.
A phrase or sketch inspires other sculptures. I've never had more fun reviving a
discard and elevating it to a piece of art.
Biography:
Nancy is a self-taught artist living in Evergreen, CO,
for more than twenty years. She has been an early-childhood educator for most of
her professional life, teaching young children in public and private schools.
She also taught special ed children and later in her local religious school.
"What I love most about teaching young children is they are largely unhampered
in their thinking. They see, with fresh eyes, what adults often ignore as
mundane. We then share equally the excitement of a discovery that is both
timeless and ageless."
Nancy was commissioned to paint three large murals in
Evergreen's beloved Hiwan Homestead Museum's Stone House. Her painted furniture
was sold in several Colorado galleries and as far away as Connecticut. She had
two shows at the Born Free Gallery in Evergreen. Nancy recently published her
first children's book, "A Mouse in the Rabbi's Study." available
from
Song Sparrow Press.
She started writing poetry and memoir several years ago,
and found this new (for her) form of expression very exciting. As with her other
art, writing smacked of scavenging through her own personal brain "dump",
retrieving an item and creating a story around it. She learned, and is still
learning, how to use the skills of writing to express herself. She was pleased
to have been selected as March, 2008 “Poet of the Month,” by
"Poetica Magazine, Reflections of Jewish Thought",
a national poetry journal. Her mixed media collage was featured on that site's home page
as well.
Nancy shows her "Recontrivancies" in Colorado at the
Evergreen Art Center, the Grand Lake Art Gallery, Nest Gallery in Winter Park,
and in Tuscaloosa, AL, at the Renaissance Art Gallery.
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