Nancy Edell was an American-born Canadian artist, best known for her rug hooking practice that challenged the boundaries between art and craft.
20 Facts About Nancy Edell
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Nancy Edell's practice included animated film, woodcut, monotypes and drawing which often expressed surrealist themes.
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Nancy Edell's work was rooted in feminism and drew inspiration from her dreams, religion and politics.
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Nancy Edell was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on November 12,1942.
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Nancy Edell obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking and contemporary dance from the University of Nebraska Omaha in 1964.
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From 1968 to 1969, Nancy Edell studied film and animation at the University of Bristol.
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In 1980, Nancy Edell moved to the small village of Bayswater, Nova Scotia, and discovered the traditional domestic craft of rug-hooking which changed her art practice dramatically.
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In 1982, Nancy Edell began teaching part-time at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and continued working there until 2002.
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Nancy Edell was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma in the fall of 1999 and died on June 9,2005.
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Nancy Edell won awards for her film work from festivals in Paris, France, and Edinburgh, Scotland as well as the First Festival of Women's Films, New York City, and the Canada Council.
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Nancy Edell had animation commissions from the BBC, CBC, and Sesame Street.
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Nancy Edell moved away from work in film animation after the 1980s.
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When Nancy Edell looked back on Black Pudding in an interview with Brian Clancey for Cinema Canada in 1976, she said she found the film embarrassing.
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Nancy Edell's third film Lunch, made in 1973, is a 4-minute colour animation.
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When Nancy Edell arrived in Nova Scotia in 1980, rug hooking had formed part of Nova Scotian folk-culture since the 1850s, but it had not yet found a place within fine art.
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Nancy Edell's move to Nova Scotia signaled a pivotal turn in her work; she started to incorporate the medium of rug hooking into her work, creating a unique visual style.
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Nancy Edell used the narrative possibilities of this medium to express a dream-like quality with art historical references, sensuality, journeys and wit.
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Nancy Edell combines textiles, collage, painting, and carving techniques and styles to provoke rich imagery intertwined with her self expression and themes.
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Nancy Edell had her work in many group exhibitions, national and international.
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Nancy Edell's work is included in the following public collections, among others:.