Nancy Charak is a native Chicagoan who makes art in a studio space
in the Ravenswood neighborhood. Her formal art training began at the Art
Institute’s Saturday school, continued through an undergraduate degree from the
University of Illinois at Chicago, then Northern Illinois University for an MFA
in Painting and Drawing. Nancy then underwent a varied set of work, learning
and play experiences following her formal schooling. She spent nine years in
the printing trade managing print jobs, nine summers playing amateur women’s
softball, fifteen years as a legal secretary and administrative assistant,
studied Chaucer and Beowulf, traveled to Mexico and Brazil, numerous cities
and museums in Western Europe almost beyond count, taught English as a Second
Language and Adult Basic Education, shot hundreds of feet of 35mm film, played
with PCs and Macs, and annoyed her friends and family with zillions of
travelogue slideshows. Nancy likes to ignore rules, slash pencils and spill
paint to see what happens.
Artist's Statement
My purpose as an artist is not
necessarily to tell the truth—it is to captivate you for as long as I can hold
your attention. It is not necessary for the artwork to be any more than what it
is. What is necessary is for the art to flow from inside and to allow the
artwork to spring from my entire set of experiences and sensibilities as an
artist.
My current favorite giants, to name just the women, are Agnes Martin and
Joan Mitchell for the purity of their thought and action on the canvas as well
as Linda Karshan, Sandra Blow, Vija Celmins, and Katherina Grosse. Whether what
they do is lyrical, expository or just plain brash, to my way of thinking they
are all pure abstract expressionists who make marks, lines, shapes, colors on
paper, canvas, even buildings, and say to us, “ here look at this, make of it
what you will.”
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