Studio Visit with Artist Ellen Nanni-Vargas — Inside Art with Michael Rose

Studio Visit with Artist Ellen Nanni-Vargas — Inside Art with Michael Rose

 

Art benefits when creators bend the rules to move their media forward. For Rhode Island artist Ellen Nanni-Vargas, recent works push painting into three dimensions and employ poured resin to create unexpected forms. Other pieces she has produced utilize collage in a variety of ways, be it in a drawing or in an hand-edited photograph. Nanni-Vargas is a multi-talented artist and art educator whose unique work will be on view in an exhibition in Newport through October 29.

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Nanni-Vargas was raised on the beaches of Little Compton but left Rhode Island to earn her undergraduate degree in art from Syracuse University. She lived in California for a time, where she participated in Americorps and was an active member of the artistic community. Later returning to Ocean State, Nanni-Vargas earned her Master of Arts in Teaching at RIC and joined the staff of the Pawtucket Public Schools where she is an educator cultivating the talents of young artists. Recently, she completed her Master of Fine Arts at Lesley University, and her latest works were produced during her graduate program. Recent exhibitions have seen Nanni-Vargas’ work shown at Gallery 263 and the Lunder Arts Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts as well as closer to home at World’s Fair Gallery in Providence and The Collaborative in Warren.

 

 

Her studio in her home on the East Side is full of artworks and inspirations. She hangs works of art completed by her young students alongside glittery decorations acquired from the dollar store. Nanni-Vargas draws from a wide range of inspirations but she finds beauty in everything from the beaches of the state where she was raised to mass-produced commercial objects. Works she has produced run the gamut from surreal drawings, to a collection of 4x6 photographs that she altered with jelly pens. There is a sense of fun and exploration to her work that comes across in her highly active and energetic studio practice.

 

Nanni-Vargas trained as a printmaker in her undergraduate program, but has worked in drawing and collage as well and is now experimenting with forms that bend the definition of painting. Recent works include organic resin forms that jump off their panels. Asked about the overlaps in the type of art she is making, she says, “Although the materials I use can behave quite differently, I find their overlap is they lend themselves to colliding worlds and combining disparate things. I enjoy using all of these media in a collage-like way, not only formally, but conceptually. The materials I use allow for freedom and exploration.”

 

 

Viewers will have the opportunity to see the artist’s strategy for combining disparate things in a new exhibition. Nanni-Vargas’ “Cloud Cuttings” will be the focus of a show at Overlap Gallery in Newport from September 20 - October 29. The show will open with a reception on September 23 from 4:30 - 6:30 pm. Nanni-Vargas’ work will be featured alongside an exhibition highlighting artists Jon Laustsen and Ashley Eliza Williams.

 

Reflecting on the art that will be on view at Overlap, Nanni-Vargas explains her hopes for how viewers experience the work by saying, “Many of my pieces revolve around a sense of place and memory. It is my hope that visitors to ‘Cloud Cuttings’ explore their own memories and connections to the many sky elements in the show.” For Nanni-Vargas, memories of her upbringing on the beaches of Rhode Island inspire the palette and tone of her work. When asked about the use of glitter in her art, she relates it to the glint of a seagull in the sun or reflections on the surface of the sand.

 

 

Asked what she enjoys most about being an artist in the state, Nanni-Vargas replies, “As a native Rhode Islander, I've always been inspired by the flora, fauna, and natural spaces of our state. My color palette in particular is heavily informed by my time spent at the beach and in nature. Furthermore, RI offers an amazing art community that I am excited to be a part of.”

 

 

Nanni-Vargas is a passionate and productive artist and educator whose unique vision is adding much to the local artistic scene. In works across media, from photographs, drawings, and collage to paintings and poured resin, Nanni-Vargas is probing the possibilities of artmaking while reflecting on her own past and experience. Her Newport exhibition promises to expose new viewers to her exciting artistic practice.

 

 

 

See work by Ellen Nanni-Vargas in her exhibition at Overlap Gallery at 112 Van Zandt Avenue in Newport from September 20 - October 29. Details on her exhibition and visiting the gallery can be found at www.overlapnewport.com.

 

Learn more about Ellen at her website www.enannivargas.com.