Nancy Charak
Artist 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.”
Artist Bio
Nancy Charak is a former Chicagoan who has decamped to the Southwest. She has a degree in Photography and Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MFA in Drawing and Painting from Northern Illinois University. She subsequently underwent a varied set of work, learning and play experiences. 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, travelled to Mexico and Brazil, numerous European cities and museums, taught English as a Second Language and Adult Basic Education. Nancy now makes art in Tucson.
