Nancy Agati
Evident Cycle-imprint & impact is a large-scale sculptural fingerprint form that floats on the surface of the water at the Delaware River boat basin. Like the cyclical pattern of water, from rain to land-ocean to sky, the spiraling finger print references rippling water, whirling eddies and the cycle of waves. The recognizable image of a human fingerprint gives rise to the continuous repetition of human activity upon the Delaware River.As the piece floats upon the water’s surface, it undulates with the tide and flows with the water.Evident Cycle-imprint & impact is constructed from cross cut sections of driftwood interwoven with roots, copper wire and fishing netting. The driftwood was collected along the banks of theDelaware River, primarily gathered from the vicinity of the Frankford Boat Launch, an area that merges a revitalized natural preserve and public park, with industry, commerce and transportation.The driftwood sections that make up the piece are of various woods, each from unknown origins, with unique textures, patterning and color. In this manner each piece of the floating finger print sculpture indicates the diversity and vastness of human endeavors along the DelawareRiver.Human interaction on this river has been a constant throughout history. Our recurring human influence up on the shores of the Delaware has resulted in both positive and negative effects for our great river and this reality continues today. Nature and human activity are forever interconnected. The fingerprint form references and illustrates the cyclical occurrences of our human contact on the Delaware River. The floating image seeks to communicate the interconnectedness of nature and humanity–the finger print represents each of us, it embodies all of us.
About The Artist
Nancy Agati’s work addresses transformations and patterns in nature through physical investigations of materials. Her multidisciplinary work includes works on paper, printmaking, sculpture, textile, and installation. Agati holds a BFA from Alfred University, School of Art & Design, NY and anMFA from TheUniversity of the Arts, Philadelphia. She currently resides and maintains an active studio practice in the Germantown/Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia. Agati has exhibited her work widely throughout Philadelphia, nationally, and abroad including solo exhibitions at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, Hillyer Art Space, Washington, DC, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, and Pentimenti Gallery, Philadelphia. Several opportunities have allowed her to experiment in a variety of media including video, public art, site-specific installation and augmented reality. Agatihas been a recurring participant with Art in the Open, Philadelphia; where, in 2014, she conducted a community carving event entitled Churn, Ripple Flow along the Schuylkill River. In 2015 ,a similar art carving work shop took place on the Hudson River Bay at Snug HarborCultural Center. The work culminated in the construction o fan outdoor sculpture at theNewhouse Center for Contemporary Art on Staten Island, NY. Agati was a recipient of a Windows of Opportunity Grant from the Leeway Foundation and has been awarded artist-in-residence placements at the Santa Fe Art Institute, New Mexico, LoStudio dei Nipoti, Calabria, Italy, and Main & Station in Nova Scotia. Her time spent in SouthernItaly initiated several bodies of work, includingPortico Series.Works from thePortico Series were recently added to the permanent collection at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. In 2014, as a Hemera Foundation Tending Space Fellow, Agati began investigating the intersection of mindfulness meditation as it relates to her art making process. Nancy Agati is thrilled and honored to be a participating artist in the FLOW exhibition.