Over the years I have fantasized about painting on canvases so large I would need a ladder to reach their upper edges. From my perch on the highest rung, from the top of 8ft. to 9ft. canvases, I would apply hot wax or rabbit glue or some other medium that would put the finishing touches on my work. I envision paintings that are bolder, bigger, and possessed with texture, brilliant light, over powering shadows and movement that could only be gained by increasing the scale of my work. I’ve imagined painting on canvases so wide that each one would require its own wall in even the largest gallery.
Gustave Flaubert said, “Be regular and ordered in your life so that you can be violent and original in your work.” When working from home, I am forced into a kind of tidiness that is limiting, the antithesis of the wildness and freedom that creativity demands. My greatest obstacle to the kind of abandon and originality that Flaubert mentions is the lack of a space of my own. It is impossible to work this way in the living room of my home. I need a studio in order to expand my repertoire, not only in terms of scale, but also the inclusion of materials difficult to work with in small spaces: wood, flat metal, window panes and pungent resins.
I started painting in 2001. As I evolve as an artist, both technically and thematically, I have come to understand that my work is a series of un-earthings. Early in my career, my paintings had to do with my own immediate emotional state, but my themes have broadened. My new series titled, Field of Ashes, will candidly examine the process by which hard-won personal truths triumph over self-imposed delusions. These paintings will also consist of visual narrative that will focus on familial relationships as well as the viewer’s interaction with the illusion of three dimensionality.
I need your help to take Field of Ashes from the sketchpad to the canvas- from my living room to a studio. I would like to raise $6,670.00 to cover the costs of renting an artist studio for one year and purchasing materials for the project (canvas, paint, wood, and stretcher bars). With your support, I will be able to produce and exhibit this new body of work in New York City in the Fall of 2012.Thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing you at the exhibit.Nikki Terry
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