Currently my drawings focus on maps, paths, and landscapes. The linear format and marks are created with ink on vellum. The variations in the density of the ink allows me to change the perceived space of the paths that I am recording. I have lived on islands or a peninsulas my entire life and I have been inspired by my surroundings. The contours of the the water, land and sky are recurring images in my work.
In commenting on the drawing "Neighborhood" in the Wayne State University collection. Emily Lane Borden stated "There are some things in this life that everyone shares. One of them is that everyone is from somewhere. Whether you have moved around 1,000 times or have lived in the same place your entire life, our location and our past homes hold a very specific meaning to our existence."
"These feelings and experiences are relevant to Nancy Bonior's work “Neighborhood.” Executed in ink, Bonior uses organic, painterly lines to communicate structure. There is an emotional element to her piece because it isn't a perfectly rendered or drafted map; it's much more intimate, and vulnerable than that. By witnessing the imperfections of the human hand within the work, as a viewer you are taken back to your own experiences. As you understand Bonior's hand and its presence in the work, you feel connected to her. Beyond that, her work touches on the human experience by reminding us of our own neighborhoods, the places we grew up, and the places where we feel like we belong. As you study her line work, the way that they cross over each other, how the different colors interact, you might be reminded of the interconnectedness of our world, and the intricacies within our own personal landscapes."
D. Dominick Lombardi remarked in a New York Times review about mapping terrain, "Using ink, ink washes and pen on translucent paper, Nancy Bonior reconstructs from memory the systems of streets in her old neighborhoods. The results are intriguing, since Ms. Bonior reworks and redefines each memory repeatedly using layer upon layer of translucent pigment. In "Neighborhood" some of these lines crisscross to form what looks like asian calligraphy."
Nancy Bonior was born in Detroit, lived in Hamtramck & East Detroit Michigan and received the Master of Fine Arts degree, a BFA and a BS in Education from Wayne State University. She has exhibited her work consistently since 1974. Selected exhibitions include: Staten Island Seen, The Staten Island Museum, SI, NY; The Germaine Keller Gallery, Garrison, NY; The Grey Gallery, Detroit, MI; The Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor, SI, NY; Onetwentyeight Gallery, and St. Mark’s Position, NYC, NY; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Wagner College, SI, NY; Aqua 301, Washington DC; Ryota/Pi Gallery, Harlem, NY. Her works are included in private and corporate collections.
Nancy Bonior lives and works on Staten Island and is married to artist Steve Foust. Her daughter Eva Yazhari is the CEO & founder of the Beyond Capital Fund.
Contact: nancybonior@gmail.com