Nancy Friedemann
Artist Statement
My art is an ongoing expression of cultural syncretism as I aim to capture the schism and emotion of living in between languages and cultures.
The lace and crochet that existed in my grandmother’s house in Bogota are metaphors of social aspiration, of collective social trauma, of making things veiled, feminine and dignified. Lace and knitting have historically been tools in the resistance to patriarchal order, but paradoxically they represent conformity and submission to traditional standards.
Aside from lace and crochet, I paint some of the things that women have been historically associated with, like flowers, and embroidery. I monumentalize them and give them a heroic place and scale that can remind one of high macho modern art.
By reenacting the process of making lace through drawing and painting, I capture the nature of lace making and create monumental works, intricate yet done with tiny strokes. In my large pieces I also manage an economy of materials but explicitly explore the experience of identity and memory.
Furthermore, I play with some notions about femininity and the role of women in art history. I draw and paint and present these issues in an over the top gorgeous way. Among, my interests and influences are Spanish and Spanish colonial art, The Pattern and Decoration movement, the feminist movement and Minimalism.