Saylor, Nadine

2100 Smallman St. Pittsburgh, PA 15222 | 412.261.7003 | www.contemporarycraft.org

Nadine Saylor

My work embraces ordinary objects yet transpires a new view by incorporating images of the local countryside in Ohio. Objects like buttons, thimbles, oilcans, watering cans and other domestic icons are the highlight of my oeuvre while the silhouetted image on the surface adds a sense of mystery and denotes the passing of time. For me, the silhouette becomes a window into the past. I am interested in family history and memories of childhood and how it plays a part in our lives. I have pictures of certain family members that I have not known personally but am interested in the way that they might have lived their lives without all of the technological advances that we have today.

I recall the cornfields and cows that were spotted around my hometown and down at the end of our street. My grandparents were from more of a country setting as they had a chicken house and a barn although when I was a little girl there were only a few chickens left. There was always lace and doilies, pretty curtains hanging in the windows, a piano, old ceramic dolls, and the train tracks, all which are beginning to show up as inspiration in my work. I feel an enormous lack of respect as the world shifts and the hand made objects, that are now antiques, are being traded for mass produced objects that are built to fall apart in no time. So many American storefronts are abandoned, being traded for business by online company as the mom and pop store history is so ever fading in history.

At my mother’s house, I found a drawer of buttons. It is funny how I remember the clothing that some of these buttons belonged to. I had memories of one particular dress and remembered for what occasion I wore it. The buttons also had the same sort of history and feeling of abandonment as the doilies and the old downtown storefronts. Recently, I have been making objects out of glass that become a canvas for images of old barns that are falling down in the countryside of Ohio where I live now. These objects signify the liberation of the classic societal restraints of women. The barns that are carved into the surface indicate the vanishing heritage, reflecting the idea of built in obsolescence that has been so commonplace today. By making these everyday objects larger than life, I hope to give respect for these disappearing familial relics that are generally passed on from generation to generation and create a new value for them.

To see Nadine’s resume, click here.