Biography/Artist Statement:

Push is a triptych of stills from a body interactive performance. It deals with the transient nature of identity, and explores the moments, both uncomfortable but necessary, where growth and change occur. During the performance, a body walks into the frame and encases itself with a cocoonesque pod, made of silicone and reflective glass beads, that sits wrinkled on the floor. The body moves and manipulates inside the pod until it has ripped itself free. The body exits the opposite way it approached, leaving the shed pod behind. 

Through glass, the body, mixed media, and alternative processes, I examine the transient natures of identity. I create flexible sheets of glass and glass textiles through a process of fusing and the addition of silicones, to explore glass as sheets, skins, and screens. I reconcile with material and memory to convey stories about identity, perception, and comfort.  The objects I create become body interactive to directly explore ipseity – a sense of self-ness, how others perceive me, and how society perceives others. 

Gracia Nash is a glass and multi-media artist from western New York. She received her BFA from Alfred University, and is currently a Glass Masters of Fine Arts candidate at Rochester Institute of Technology School of American Crafts. Her work explores the body, identity, and perception. 

Resume

EDUCATION

Rochester Institute of Technology School of American Crafts, Rochester N.Y.  Aug 2017 – May 2019 (current)

• Glass Masters of Fine Arts
• Full Scholarship

New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred N.Y.  2009 – 2014

• Bachelor of Fine Arts, Education Minor, with Honors
• Alfred University’s President’s Scholarship, Honor’s Program, Dean’s List

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Master’s Class – GLASSPOINT Studio, Riga, Latvia “Illuminated Frit and Flame”

March 2019

Graduate Assistant, RIT, Rochester N.Y.

“Glass Processes” Fall 2018

“Glass Processes” Fall/Spring 2017-2019

Teacher’s Assistant, Alfred University, Alfred N.Y.

“Public Art”, Spring 2014

“Glass and Metal Casting”, Fall 2013

AWARDS/SCHOLARSHIPS/RESIDENCIES

Artist in Residence – Aichi University of Education in Nagoya, Japan. June – July 2018

RIT/Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass Partnership Scholarship July 2018

Windgate Fellowship Nominee  February 2014

EXHIBITIONS

• “Congressional Art Show”, Larking at Exchange Building, Buffalo, N.Y. April-May 2008
• “Post Present”, Hornell, N.Y. December 2013
• “MISE-En-Scene”, Robert C. Turner Gallery, Alfred, N.Y. February 2013
• “Senior Show Exhibition”, Alfred University, Alfred, N.Y. May 2014
• “Young and Loving”, S12, Bergen, Norway August-September 2014
• “No Man’s Land”, Politits Art Coalition, The Yards, Rochester, N.Y. March 2018
• “Drawing from the Same Well”, Davison Gallery at Roberts Wesleyan College, Rochester  N.Y. May 2018
• “RIT x AICHI Collaboration”, Library Gallery at Aichi University of Education, Nagoya, Japan  July 2018
• “LinGLASStics”, The Yards, Rochester, N.Y. December 2018
• “Open a New Year 2019”, Bauhaus Prairie Art Gallery, Juried Exhibition, 1st place.

January 2019