Installations
“Meanings and Messages”
With a keen eye for blending artistic expression with thought-provoking themes, Nancy's installations serve as powerful mediums for sparking dialogue and reflection on the pressing concerns of our times. Through her immersive and grand creations, she challenges viewers to confront complex topics, inviting them to engage with her work on both intellectual and emotional levels. Nancy's unwavering dedication to using art as a catalyst for social consciousness ensures that her installations leave a lasting impact on all who experience them.
Triad
Gateway to Rochester
When Nancy Jurs was commissioned to create a public sculpture for the Greater Rochester International Airport, she had to build an enormous addition onto her studio to accommodate the work. This monumental clay work is composed of stacked, pounded, modeled, and chiseled stoneware. Each section weighs between 200-600 pounds. The piece was hand glazed and patina’ed. To fire Triad, it had to be taken to an industrial kiln. The Three totem-like structures incorporate symbols of the city: the sailboat, the arrowhead, and the millstone.
Making of Triad
Short Documentary
A short film documenting the journey of triad. From creation, firing, to final installation of Triad at the Greater Rochester International Airport. The studio featured in the creation of Triad was custom built to produce the piece.
Artist’s Statement
“My Life Has Gotten So Busy That It Now Takes Up All of My Time.”
This work was created out of a collection of over forty years worth of lint from the artist's two Maytag laundry dryers, both of which are still in working condition. One dryer produces circular collections of lint and the other rectangular. These collections are autobiographical detritus, and the artist can recall what clothes or objects - such as her daughter's baby blanket - contributed to each collection of lint. She says, "I have put together something about myself with all the lint from my clothes." The circular and rectangular forms of the lint gave her the inspiration for using Morse Code, which is comprised of dots and dashes. The Circular dots and rectangular dashes spell out the subtitle of the work.
World Peace
“Finding Common Ground”
“We’re All in This Together”
“Your Move!”
For this installation Jurs re-purposed many of her older, large ceramic sculptures. The polarity of black and white are symbolically equalized as they move through the transitional gradations of gray. Positioned on a life-sized chess board, they represent her desire for a world where we seek out common ground that brings us together, look passed difference, and work towards a common good. Jurs has created several iterations, showcasing this need for peace.
Déjà Vu
“Fifty Pieces, Fifty Years”
In DéjàVu, a grouping of individual vessels and sculptures address the theme of equality through what Jurs refers to as détournement, assigning past objects new meanings by presenting them in ways that differ from the original intention.
Jurs gathered together a large grouping of ceramic objects, one from each year of her artistic career, which began in 1958. Each object has been painted white, so they could be viewed as a unit and no single work would overshadow another. This led to a conceptual breakthrough for Jurs in which she became conscious that their unification through paint color represented her view of the world: we are all individuals and should be considered and treated as equals.
