Nance Paternoster is a veteran of the Computer Graphic art medium: the first woman to graduate from Syracuse University’s Art Media Studies BFA program. Nance broke ground over 20 years ago when she wrote software to generate shapes, printed out those shapes in black and white, and then built three-dimensional collages from the printouts. Today, Nance still utilizes the computer to create her art: she combines photography with digital painting to create images not only complex and abstract, but wholly unique and unobtainable through any other medium. She then combines these images with other archival materials to make one-of-a kind pieces. The ultimate results manifest as images on canvas, large format prints on three-dimensionally treated inkjet paper, silk, plywood, or metal. Her art has also been designed for light sculptures, kaleidoscopic boxes, neon kinetic pieces, 3D and stereoscopic images, and other mixed media. While Nance’s artwork employs her keen technical skills, emotion and intuition are integral to her artistic process. A photographer first, she collects bold images, sometimes archiving them for years before they find their way into her final pieces. Though several of her series have a conceptual underpinning, many of the works are a result of exploration and experimentation, playing with subject, color, shape, and line to create strong, sometimes even distributing images. No matter the origins, the work is consistent in its evocative and surreal nature.
