Nancy Constandelia’s highly formal compositions are produced through the slow accretion of painted layers that result in gradated monochromes. Each layer represents a progression away from the flatness of surface as well as accumulated time. The finished works succeeds the mere illusion of depth to embody something far more mimetic in the painting process. The careful attention to subtle nuances of colour and light, time and space, become synonymous with the paintings. Single hues are stretched and dissected into tonal layers to reveal their spectral makeup, laid bare in a static picture that appears simultaneously dynamic. The thoughtful use of colour is particularly responsive to shifting light, which intensifies shadows or brightness, causing the compositions to appear ephemeral. The exposed areas of the substrate, acts to remind the viewer of the unpainted surface and the ambivalence of flatness and depth.
“My works are documents of time and duration. Each work invites stillness,presence and rumination. The painting is not complete until it is activated by the viewer. In some compositions, I purposely tape areas of the substrate to delineate between the painted and the unpainted surface. This creates a contrast between the hand and no hand; the known and the unknown; time and no time. I am always fascinated by the way the paint bleeds along the edge and seeps through the tape onto the unpainted substrate,creating its own painting. There is beauty in its materiality, unpredictability and uncertainty.
Nancy Constandelia is an Australian born Chinese artist based in Sydney (Gadigal). She graduated in 2016 with a Master of Art with Excellence (Painting) from UNSW Art,Design & Architecture (UNSWADA. Formerly UNSW College of Fine Arts). She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions both in Australia and internationally..
Constandelia has been a finalist in various art awards including the Mosman Art Prize, the 2024 Grace Cossington Biennial Art Award, the Waverley Art Prize, the Blake Prize, Fisher’s Ghost Art Prize, and the Geelong Contemporary Art Prize. Her work has been featured in various art publications including Artists Profile and Art Collector.
In 2019 she was granted a two month Studio Scholarship, by the Art Gallery of NSW, with an artist residency at the prestigious Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, France. She was also recently chosen for the highly competitive Artist in Residence program at Bundanon for 2023, granted by Bundanon Trust.
Constandelia’s work has been acquired by significant private collections both in Australia and internationally, including the Stevenson Collection and the Mindaroo Foundation.
