Lynn Nafey | Lynn Nafey Designs
Lynn creates mixed media art and limited edition prints out of her Stow, Massachusetts studio. Her rich and complex surfaces result from a fusion of traditional handwork and digital processes. She has had a long and varied career in the arts, exploring many creative avenues, including sculpture, puppet-making, caricatures, and silk-painting, as well as crafting her own line of painted-metal jewelry. She received her formal training at Boston University with a BFA in Sculpture.
Artist’s Statement
I see my images as a bridge melding the seen and the unseen, where recognizable elements fuse with abstract layers of color, texture, and pattern. Each is the distillation of a moment imbued with its own distinct, yet complex mood. What begins as inspiration, inevitably gives way to the unanticipated. It is a mysterious alchemy that is exhilarating to witness.
Texture is integral to my art, having an expressive power that suggests the evidence of time’s passage. The layers of raw marks and errant bits, further conjure an atmosphere of fleeting motion - a hint of what existed only moments before.
Always on the hunt for unusual material combinations, I embrace both traditional hand techniques and contemporary digital processes. It is the challenge of their seamless integration and the lure of unprecedented possibility, to which I am irresistibly drawn.
I invite you to sink into the layers and textured surfaces of my images, distilling them through your own perceptions and memories, and finding what you will.
Process
My work begins with the creation of a diverse assortment of ink wash drawings, monotypes, and textures that I use as building blocks. I then digitally collage these elements with my own carefully honed process that maximizes translucency and allows great flexibility in coloring and blending the dozens of layers in each image.
To bring my work back into the physical realm, I use a modern day transfer process where archival quality inks are printed onto a carrier sheet and then hand pressed onto specially prepared fine art paper. I absolutely fell in love with the process the first time I tried it. It’s very magical and has a beautiful and lush surface quality.
Lynn’s website | Lynn’s blog
Artist’s Statement
I see my images as a bridge melding the seen and the unseen, where recognizable elements fuse with abstract layers of color, texture, and pattern. Each is the distillation of a moment imbued with its own distinct, yet complex mood. What begins as inspiration, inevitably gives way to the unanticipated. It is a mysterious alchemy that is exhilarating to witness.
Texture is integral to my art, having an expressive power that suggests the evidence of time’s passage. The layers of raw marks and errant bits, further conjure an atmosphere of fleeting motion - a hint of what existed only moments before.
Always on the hunt for unusual material combinations, I embrace both traditional hand techniques and contemporary digital processes. It is the challenge of their seamless integration and the lure of unprecedented possibility, to which I am irresistibly drawn.
I invite you to sink into the layers and textured surfaces of my images, distilling them through your own perceptions and memories, and finding what you will.
Process
My work begins with the creation of a diverse assortment of ink wash drawings, monotypes, and textures that I use as building blocks. I then digitally collage these elements with my own carefully honed process that maximizes translucency and allows great flexibility in coloring and blending the dozens of layers in each image.
To bring my work back into the physical realm, I use a modern day transfer process where archival quality inks are printed onto a carrier sheet and then hand pressed onto specially prepared fine art paper. I absolutely fell in love with the process the first time I tried it. It’s very magical and has a beautiful and lush surface quality.
Lynn’s website | Lynn’s blog