Exhibition and Artist Talk: Almost Sacred

For several years, Nancy Wisti Grayson has been in residence at Arte Studio Ginestrelle in Assisi, Italy, visiting churches and art historical sites to borrow details from paintings, frescoes, and sculptures. Though photographs are taken, they are rarely consulted while making the work—the pieces become impressions of memory, conglomerations of observation and personal history rather than direct representations.

Made from recycled polystyrene, grout, wood, paper, markers, and thread, the works on paper layer drawn, painted, or printed imagery within translucent vellum, making images feel remembered rather than depicted. Stitching extends the drawn line, evoking history, ritual, and repetition, while the styrofoam and wood pieces echo architectural or fresco fragments without becoming precious objects.

Many source images originated as objects of worship. Removed from that context, they become less about religion than about the enduring power of images—a devotion to looking, rather than belief.

Event information

• Reception and Artist Talk: September 1 at 4:30 p.m. (the talk will begin at 5:00 p.m.)
• Carlson Tower Gallery: The Carlson Tower Gallery is free and open to the public Monday–Friday from 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
• Parking: Free parking is available in the lot on  Foster and Kedzie.
• Contact: smat@northpark.edu or (773) 244-5630

About the artist

Currently based in Chicago, Wisti Grasyon received her BFA and MA in painting from Wayne State University in Detroit. Visit her website to learn more.

Selected recent exhibits include:

• White Column’s Artist Registry listing, NYC
• Solo exhibition: Mementos: Paths That Cross at Material Exhibitions in Chicago (essay by Jefferson Godard)
• Assisi International Art Exhibition, Galleria Le Logge, Assisi, Italy
• ART IN PLACE: Self Isolation: an online exhibit at Standard Space, Sharon, CT;
• Gold at Aspect/Ratio Gallery, Chicago
• Open Boundaries, Loosen Arts Books, Rome, Italy
• Solo Exhibition and Publication Fellow at Peripheral Vision Arts (Critical Essay: “Material Memory: Postmodern Nostalgia in the Works of Nancy Wisti Grayson” by Crystal Rosenthal).