Nancy Hlavacek
STATEMENT
My most recent paintings represent an emotional experience of beauty in nature. The act of painting is a journey into the Unknown – it’s mysterious and challenging. The idea of beauty is always on my mind. I want my paintings to be perceived , not as being about something, but as being something – hopefully a nonreferential representation of beauty as I feel it.
I enjoy altering my photographs of flowers and the landscape. My calligraphic marks are the distilled and altered remembrances of nature. Painting in the genre of Abstract Expressionism, I feel a strong affinity for artists such as Helen Frankenthaler, Cy Twombly, and Joan Mitchell. I strive to capture that fleeting and spontaneous quality in my work.
BIO
I’ve studied at The Art Institute of Chicago, Evanston Art Center, and DuPage Art League, Columbia College, and the University of Illinois, Chicago. I’ve participated in group exhibitions at the DuPage Art League and the Oak Park Art League.
Also group shows at The Fine Arts Building Gallery in Chicago where I was a member in 2006, Chicago Artist’s Coalition – 2006, Women Made Gallery – August 2008, Chicago Artist’s Coalition – October 2008, and 2010. In June 2005 I had a solo exhibit at the Janice Elkins Gallery in Oak Park, Illinois.
For over fifteen years I’ve had a portrait photo studio where I specialized in children and families while also focusing on flowers both outdoors and within interior settings. Above all, photographing the landscape in the U.S., Europe, Africa, China, Thailand and Cambodia is a passion of mine.