Nancy Edell: Bricàbra

These recent multi-panelled works Nova Scotia-based artist Nancy Edell are her most ambitious and complex to date, combining hooked mats, carved and incised wood panels, intricately painted and stained surfaces, and various cut out forms. They support a cast of mutating figures in visual dramas that are at once humorous, erotic and enigmatic. Women and girls are the main protagonists in these fragmented, dreamlike narratives, interacting with a bizarre range of characters: human, animal, and insect. Liberally mixing the sacred and profane, Edell’s works borrow imagery from many cultures, past and present, crossing the boundaries between the western canons of high art and the more vernacular traditions in decorative arts and crafts. Curated by Susan Gibson Garvey, the exhibition and catalogue have received funding from The Canada Council for the Arts and the Nova Scotia Arts Council. The exhibition begins a cross-Canada tour in 1999.