Art: Working through it All

All of life is fair game in my studio.

As one artist friend said of me, I am a hunter and gatherer.  I am always on the look out for images, objects, and textures that give a physicality to a thought, idea or experience that I am investigating.

The materials and medium that I work with vary and change with the narrative.  My foundation in drawing and printmaking attracts me to the expressive line, the tactile surface and the use of a matrix to create a visual vocabulary that can be repeated and reused.

My series have included:
Streetwise: Life sized portraits in oil of teens living in an Emergency Youth Shelter

Lambchop: my pet surfing rabbit

A Nobler Truth, 1988
Oil on canvas
20" x 36"
©2010NanciHersh

Ranch Camp: Prints drawings and mixed media constructions of my neighbors in Waialua, Hawaii.

Crows: Collographs, and mixed media prints on handmade paper

Busy Sitting: Collographs, drawings and embossings from children's clothing

Sailor Suit II, 2002
Collograph, acrylic, graphite on paper
30" x 22"
©2010NanciHersh

Breast Cancer: Digitally altered photographs with collage, Mixed media on wood objects

They were Starting to Sag, Anyway, 2004
9.5" x 8" x 5"
©2010NanciHersh

Illustrations for Children's Book: Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings: when someone you love has cancer... a hopeful, helpful book for kids.

Pinkie Promise, 2004
Gouache with watercolor pencils
11" x 14"
©2010NanciHersh

Koi Pond Series: Paintings and works on paper and canvas

Inherently Found Series: Sculptures and installation of wire, pulp, encaustic, found objects.

The wonderful thing about being an artist is the ability to step aside, get out of your head, come from your heart and create.

The act of bringing the work out into the world takes on a life of its own that is an adventure unto itself.