Featured image: Love Birds (Guinea Hens), Nancy Bardach, 2008, mixed media, 49 x 52 in. / 124.46 x 132.08 cm.
Nancy Bardach transforms fabric into landscapes of memory and meaning.
Nancy Bardach creates textile-based mixed-media works that merge natural wonder, cultural memory, and layered fabric techniques.
Her mixed-media works combine hand-dyed fabrics, layered textures, and intricate stitching to evoke natural phenomena, cultural histories, and the rhythms of life. In her hands, cotton and thread transcend utility, becoming vessels of narrative and reflection.
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Harvest Moon, Nancy Bardach, 2016, mixed media, 30 x 24 in. / 76.2 x 60.96 cm.
The tranquil radiance of Harvest Moon suggests a moonrise magnified low on the horizon. Soft washes of fabric echo the glowing arc of light, while textured threads ripple across the surface like waves of atmosphere. Bardach captures the wonder of natural phenomena, the moment when the vastness of the sky astounds us and joy takes root in stillness.
The Fish in the Sea 4, Nancy Bardach, 2018, mixed media, 20 x 12 in. / 50.8 x 30.48 cm.
In The Fish in the Sea 4, sleek silhouettes dart through layered currents, recalling the glint and motion of a sardine school. The irregular shape of the textile suggests a boat, placing the viewer simultaneously above and within the sea. Part of Bardach’s “Fish in the Sea” series, the work demonstrates how recurring motifs can transform fabric into narrative, each stitch carrying the rhythm of tides.
Aztec Altar, Nancy Bardach, 2016, mixed media, 31 x 23 in. / 78.74 x 58.42 cm.
Aztec Altar rises with the strength of ancient stone. Bardach layers hand-dyed fabrics into stepped forms, their solidity suggesting both architecture and ritual. The altar references Casa Azul in Mexico City, where Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo displayed pre-Columbian sculptures among cacti and courtyards. Crimson threads cut across the surface like bloodlines, reminders of sacrifice and continuity, binding past to present.
Bardach’s work resists categorization as either craft or fine art; it occupies a space that is both. The moon’s glow, the sea’s pulse, the weight of cultural memory, all find resonance in her textiles. What remains is not just an image, but a tactile presence that connects viewers to cycles of nature and history.
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Dragonfly's Wing, Nancy Bardach, 2014, mixed media, 24 x 40 in. / 60.96 x 101.6 cm.
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