Nancy Agati
Balaustra II
2015
Ink, gouache, clay slip and polymer mounted on panel
26 x 40"

About the work
Balaustra II is inspired by abstract Italy architecture patterns on black, like Italian lace.

In 2012, as an artist in residence at Lo Studio dei Nipoti in Calabria, Italy, I toured Campania, the region of my ancestry. Here I researched this lace tradition, which draws imagery from native plant forms along with depictions of the region's winding roads.

Balaustra I & II are hand-drawn and painted works that combine elements from Italian lace design, architectural fragments, and plant life. The overlapping thinly painted lines suggest threads of stitched and knotted lace. Earth-tone layers of pigment, made from clay and slate, weave through from the background referencing the landscape.

Bio

Nancy Agati is a Philadelphia artist whose multidisciplinary work includes painting and works on paper, sculpture, site-specific installation, and public art. Agati holds a BFA from Alfred University, School of Art & Design, NY, and an MFA from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. She has exhibited her work widely throughout Philadelphia and nationally, with exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Alliance and Fairmount Water Works, Philadelphia, PA; Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC; Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Staten Island, NY; and The Calandra Italian American Institute, NY. Sculptural installations about nature and the environment have been created for the New Jersey Coastal Climate Resilience Project in Atlantic City; the FLOW exhibit at The Independence Seaport Museum, Philadelphia; and We All Fall Down at The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia.

Agati's work is in several public collections, including the Pennsylvania Convention Center and Temple University, Fox School of Business. Agati has received an Ecotopian Toolmaker Award from the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities, a project grant from The Puffin Foundation, and an Illuminate the Arts Grant from the City of Philadelphia. She has been a recipient of a Windows of Opportunity Award From the Leeway Foundation and has been awarded artist residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico; Lo Studio dei Nipoti, Calabria, Italy; Main & Station, Nova Scotia; and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Center at Meadowbrook Farm. As a recipient of a Hemera Foundation Tending Space Artist Fellowship, Agati continues to investigate mindfulness meditation in relation to her art-making practice.

www.nancyagati.com