Nancy Genn

“Viewing the work of Nancy Genn is like experiencing a Rothko painting or the subtle cracks and patina of a simple plaster wall in the Zen gardens of Kyoto's Ryoan-ji: the more one allows oneself to be drawn into an individual work, the more the content and complexity of that work become apparent. Genn's work emits a quiet power and intensity which draw the viewer into a series of contrasts that delight and instruct. Initially drawn to the bold geometric grid and powerful colors of the work, one studies the work and becomes involved in the varied textures, the interplay of colors, and the lacy deckled edge contrasted with the crisp lines embossed into the surface. Like a painstakingly orchestrated Zen garden, Genn's images are implied rather than literally presented. Rather than impose a rigid pattern—as in an 18th century formal Western garden—or depict nature in the raw, Genn's imagery reflects the more naturalistic Oriental garden form that has been extremely influential on her native California. Though meticulously planned, Genn's images—like those gardens—allow for a certain amount of contrast and contradiction within that is finally resolved by the viewer in experiencing the work. The viewer's eye is brought into the image and gradually led to perceive more and more nuances of color and texture and subtle ‘veils’ of diffused light created with ‘washes’ of natural colored Japanese gampi fibers over areas of dyed cotton rag pulp. Nancy Genn is masterfully painting with the paper pulp, within the sheet of paper. The resulting images are ‘landscapes,’ not literal images of specific places, but evocative landscapes that distill the combination of man's geometric, structural order, or rationality, with natural chaos, or intuition.”

– From Paper Paintings by Jane M. Farmer, 1984