We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nancy Kay Turner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy Kay , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

One of the most memorable and meaningful projects was my first site specific piece, which was a huge risk for me -or so I thought! Here’s the “backstory” and my description of the project. During the Covid-19 pandemic, I like so many others worldwide, learned how to bake bread. At first, I saved the bread -stained parchment paper because it reminded me of the of religious artifacts -those miraculous visions of Jesus in the tortilla and Mary in burnt toast. After accumulating the remains of three or four months of baking, I began to collage these fragmented translucent “leftovers” that are so rich in metaphor. Domestic and spiritual, humble and exalted, the making of bread out of only four ingredients-flour, leavening, salt and water, is a basic ancient activity, born of necessity and is a sign of communion and sustenance.
My installation, BURNT OFFERINGS, first shown in “Memories Of Tomorrow’s Sunrise, curated by Jason Jenn and Vojislav Radovanovic (who gave me a 30 foot wall and said “build something”) was composed of 104 pieces of used parchment paper (and is still ongoing) which was affixed to unbleached muslin, nailed to the wall directly and was 66” x 264”. This piece collaged with vintage materials, gold leaf, and held together with rose gold staples became the embodiment of the lived experience, full of contradictory impulses, reconciling opposites such as lost/found, absence/presence, fragility/strength, forgetting/remembering. Each piece had outlived its original purpose, and each had a unique circular pattern that looked like an inked fingerprint. Each sheet represented a moment in time: an ancient activity made contemporary, knitted together, the staples like stitches or sutures joining disparate pieces. The loose grid became a durational diary, only supposed to last as long as the pandemic, almost like Penelope’s weaving as it moved back and forth through time, collapsing space between past, present and future. The bread -stained translucent parchment paper echoes the wrinkles and delicacy of aging skin and collaged with vintage materials that speak to love and loss gives this series an elegiac and poetic presence. It also reminded me that I was born post World War II, after the twin catastrophes of the Shoah and also the Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I realized that this piece was also a memorial- a memento mori.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was the class artist in elementary school, got my high schools award for Art and eventually majored in Art and minored in English at Queens College. After getting my M.A. (it was the terminal degree in 1969,) in drawing and painting I moved back to NY.C. where I taught in at I.S.52 in the Bronx that was in the the worst neighborhood in the country, according to the New York Times! Then I moved to San Diego where I taught art at several San Diego community colleges, (design, painting, life drawing) and in San Dieguito High School (hand built ceramics). I was always doing my art and even won a city wide art contest that netted me a solo show at the now defunct Escondido Regional Art gallery. I asked a friend to write a review of another solo show I had at Spectrum Gallery (defunct) and try to get it published (I was young and nervy)! He told me to write my own review and he would sign it and send it in. I did and he did. Of course the San Diego Tribune did not publish it but they asked him to be their art critic!!! He politely declined. For years I told that as an amusing story until 1984 when a friend asked me to write a review of his show. I wrote a review on “spec” sent it into Artweek where they did not publish it but they did ask me to be a critic. So I’ve been writing art criticism since then -in the beginning for print magazine/newspapers like Artweek and Artscene, then for online art magazines artandcakela and RiotMaterial. I am actually proud that I was able to work full time at a high school for 36 years, part time as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Glendale college for 27 years ( painting and life drawing) write art reviews and catalogs, make art, be in shows, be a parent and partner and remain sane. I’m proud to still be growing as an artist and moving into site specific installations and assemblages. I’m still curious about what my next body of work will look like and I look forward to my next show Roswell Space in March 2024. I am an accidental alchemist/archivist using humble materials to tell forgotten stories about the mysteries of time, complicated identity, unpredictable memory, and the fraught domestic sphere. Art is magic and we are all magicians, creating something from nothing.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I had three instances with how my work was treated when I first started to exhibit that taught me some lessons. When I got out of graduate school and moved back to New York, I entered two works in a show. I had to get them framed, which was expensive. When I got to the show with friends and family, I couldn’t find my work until I got to the last wall.There leaning against the radiator, not hung were my two drawings. I was conflicted about leaving them or taking them in a fit of pique. I left them. Then shortly afterward, I was in an open show (that Alice Neel was also in, even though I already knew who she was). I had entered a framed drawing. When I go to the show I looked for my work (the work was hung salon style floor to ceiling). Again, it was nowhere to be seen! I finally located it hung between the elevator and the cork board with notices on it! Then once I moved to San Diego I had work in a show and I volunteered to hang the show…(by that I mean arrange where everything was to be hung) and even then when I got there my work was hung upside down! It taught me to be vigilant and to volunteer. If you want something to be right you have to do it yourself!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

It wasn’t until about 2005 that there were business of art classes for artists. There was Karen Atkinson’s fabulous GYST course and book. When I was in school no one taught us how to manage a career. Maybe they just thought we were dilettantes. Now there are wonderful courses through the Center of Cultural Innovation, Kipaipai and many coaches helping artists tell their story, hone their skills, manage their doubts and demons, There is Artwork Archive for keeping track of everything an artist needs. In Los Angeles artist entrepreneurs like Kristine Schomaker have businesses that help artists with PR, networking, writing proposals, and I can recommend Nicole Slater who also works with artists. Had I had these resources when I was a young artist I think it would have been beyond helpful in establishing goals, and the discipline to achieve them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nancyturnerstudio.com
• Instagram: @nancykayturner
• Facebook: Nancy kay Turner
• Youtube: https://laartdocuments.com/post/studio-visit-nancy-kay-turnwe

Image Credits
image credits: Nancy Kay Turner