NANCY POWHIDA
Place of Residence: Albany, NY
Date of Birth: 1942

I am an emerging fourth generation artist. At age forty I experienced an irrepressible desire to make art. I began studying drawing, painting, and printmaking intensively while raising my children and working full-time. Two years ago I gave my full attention to making art.

I love the logic, versatility, process, and surprise in printmaking. I continually experiment, recombine media, and push my work which is loosely biographical. The raw material for my work comes from aspects of everyday life which are reinterpreted by my vision. I may use dolls and animals to make a dark tale; a family photograph might be the impetus for a print; a piece of fabric or wallpaper might be the basis for a colorful abstraction. I create drama and tension by juxtaposing universal oppositional elements: innocence against fear and danger, intimacy against distance, the surreal against the real.

To create Cabin in the Woods, I took advantage of the artist's book format which allows the artist to create a four dimensional visual drama. I used traditional etching processes - softground line, aquatint and drypoint. I made multiple zinc plates and printed them sequentially.

Biography

Nancy Powhida was born in Glens Falls, NY in 1942. She received a B.A. in psychology from Boston University in 1965 and a M.Sc. in rehabilitation counseling from the University of New York, Albany in 1972. In 1984 Powhida began studying drawing, painting, and printmaking at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY and received her B.Sc. in fine arts. In 1991 she earned an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Norwich University, Montpelier, VT. Currently, Powhida works in Ballston Spa and Albany, NY.

In 1989 Powhida held a solo show at the Case Gallery of Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. She has also showed work in exhibits at Lake George Arts Project; Sixtieth Juried National Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY; and the Gallery of the Saratoga Arts Council, Saratoga, NY. Powhida received a grant from the Rensselaer County Council for the Arts in 1992.

Powhida received an award for her artist's book of etchings at the Mohawk Hudson Regional Exhibition in Schenectady, NY and has exhibited her work on the regional, national, and international level. She is also represented in public, corporate, and private collections.