Nancy Azara

New York born artist Nancy Azara (born 1939) creates sculptures, collages, prints and banners with a mixture of natural and synthetic materials.

Fallen leaves are her primary subject matter and wood is her preferred medium, which she carves, assembles, paints and gilds with gold and silver leaf. Her mixed media collages involve gestural mark making, painted cut-outs, rubbings and tracings. Through all these built up layers her works record a journey through knowledge, memory and creativity. She is committed to exploring materiality and nature. Azara recalls, “It was a very exciting time in the 1970s. I was discovering a place of empowerment inside myself. I was so grateful to be alive because I could be involved in feminism, which for me meant exploring everything.”

Broken Leaf portrays layers of delicate scarlet leaves with prominent veins, reminding us of the human body. Azara reflects on the fragility, transience and beauty of both human and plant life.