Nanci La Bret Einstein

STATEMENT

Creating is an integral piece of who I am. I speak through my work in languages pertinent to the mediums I utilize. Every day I make a mark and then another, and yet one more, ad infinitum. While these marks may not be within the confines of the same piece of art, they are related to each other through me. They are a continual visual and intellectual learning source. To try and comprehend how and why they change the visual field surrounding them is my job. I translate their rhythm, color, weight, and texture so they hold together as co-dependent marks that maintain their own construct. I am not content to play the same keys over and over, but rather push them beyond the tensions and relationships felt in the last piece and see where it takes me. I control their visual presence, which in turn allows the viewer to translate it. My inspiration comes from the simple/complex act of living and not just seeing but looking. The discovery of relationships in everyday surroundings and beyond is what inspires me to make a mark. The file-folder kept in your head of images you don’t even realize are there until you draw upon it, is what moves me. The relevance of what I produce is the kernel of bringing the audience to truly see what is going on in the work. To grasp there is more than function for varied objects and color has more of a command than a candy-coated shell. Creating a dialogue, no matter how basic, between the audience and the piece is exciting. It is the start of a relationship, one that will hopefully produce more involvement and understanding.

BIO

I am one of those people who has come full circle. One of my fondest childhood memories is sitting on the living room floor with a large box of tile samples arranging and rearranging them according to color and whim. Now, a zillion, ok, not quite a zillion, maybe a 10,000th of a zillion years later, I am arranging, not tiles but varied elements by color, texture, size, and shape into objects.
When I first began my journey into 3D work and made the decision to use repurposed items, I was concerned about bringing elements into a whole. Their prior identities remained more intact. Their first lives bringing a “Where’s Waldo” element to the viewing of the piece. Now, their former lives are not obvious at all. They have merged into their new identities. The fact that they even performed other functions or had other lives doesn’t much matter. They are all part of the whole.
I began my formal journey within the art world as a painter. As such, color is an integral part of my work. It conveys strengths, auras and contributes to the ultimate unification between varied elements that play into each piece. Each piece I create, notwithstanding the medium, is built upon knowledge gained from the prior image. Basic construct issues live in consideration of each medium. I am the lucky one who gets to put it together.

EXHIBITIONS/SHOWS/COMMISSIONS

One Person Show:
2019: Michigan Fine Arts Competition – Birmingham, MI USA 2019: Side Gallery - Janice Charach Gallery - W. Bloomfield, MI

Two Person Shows:
2019: Assemblage: A Next:Space Collaboration - Next:Space - Ferndale, MI 2016: Connections: bits & pieces - Janice Charach Gallery - W. Bloomfield, MI 2012: Tank425 – Hazel Park, MI

Selected Shows:
2020: Explore This! 17 - Colored Pencil Society of America - Online
2020: United By One - Buckham Gallery - Flint, MI
2020: Conversations With our Mentor - Anton Art Center - Mt. Clemens, MI
2020: Abstraction - Middlebury, Vermont
2019: The Affordable Art Fair - New York, New York
2019: Camera USA - von Liebig Art Center - Naples, FL
2019: Chiaroscuro - Next:Space - Ferndale, MI
2018: 90th Regional Exhibition - Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon, MI
2018: Michigan Fine Arts Competition - Birmingham, MI
2018: Camera USA - von Liebig Art Center - Naples, FL
2018: Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition - Marshall Fredericks Museum, Saginaw, MI
2018: Electron Salon - LACDA (Los Angeles Center for Digital Art) - Los Angeles, CA 2017: Michigan Annual XLIV - Anton Art Center - Mt. Clemens, MI
2016: Biennial – Museum of New Art – Armada, MI
2016: Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition - Marshall Fredericks
Museum, Saginaw, MI
2016: Michigan Fine Arts Competition - BBAC - Birmingham, MI
2016: Camera USA - von Liebig Art Center - Naples, FL
2016: Electron Salon - LACADA - Los Angeles, CA
2015: The Next Big Thing – Museum of New Art – Troy, MI
2015: Buckham Gallery – Flint, MI
2015: Responding to Chaos – Rackham Bldg. – River Gallery – Ann Arbor, MI
2014: Michigan Annual XLII – Anton Art Center – Mt. Clemens, MI * second place 2014: International Competition - Boxheart Gallery – Pittsburgh, PA– Saginaw, MI 2014: Regional Biennial Juried Sculpture Exhibition – Marshall Fredericks
Museum, Saginaw, MI
2014: Michigan Fine Arts Competition – BBAC – Birmingham, MI

2014: Silver Medal Exhibition – Scarab Club – Detroit, MI *Honorable Mention Award
2014: 13th Annual Inter/National Exhibition – Box Heart Gallery – Pittsburgh, PA 2013: Electron Salon – LACADA – LA, CA
2013: Edge DAM – Detroit, MI
2012: 99th Gold Medal Exhibition – Scarab Club – Detroit, MI
2012: Now Wow – Hudson Gallery – Sylvania, OH
2012: Buckham Gallery – Flint, MI
2012: Michigan Fine Arts Competition - Birmingham, MI
2012: Silver Medallion Show – Scarab Club – Detroit, MI
2011: Michigan Photography Competition – Lowell Arts – Lowell, MI
2011: Michigan All Area Competition – Studio 23/Arts Center – Bay City, MI 2011: Electron Salon – LA Center for Digital Art – LA, California
2011: Signatures- Berkowitz Gallery – U of M Dearborn- Dearborn, MI
2011: 20th Retrospective Show – Janice Charach Gallery- W. Bloomfield, MI
Publications
INDA 12 - The 12th Manifest International Drawing Annual
A Juried Annual Publication of Works of Recent Drawing ISBN: 978-1-940862-23-1
http://www.manifestgallery.org/nda/index.html
Media/Interviews
2018: "Detroit Performs" Detroit Public Television - April 3,2018 2017:"Wall Art" Detroit Jewish News - February 15,2017
2016: "Detroit Performs" Detroit Public Television - November 10 2013: "Artistic Synergy" Detroit Jewish News - June 20, 2013

EDUCATION

BFA College for Creative Studies – major painting; minor ceramics

Oakland Community College – studied ceramics under Robert Piepenberg

AWARDS

INDA 12 - The 12th Manifest International Drawing Annual
A Juried Annual Publication of Works of Recent Drawing
ISBN: 978-1-940862-23-1

TAGS

#sculpture #drawing #watercolor #color #3D #wood #line #color