Name/Title
Brush BoxEntry/Object ID
2018.10.04Description
Drawing
This still-life depicts an open lidded tin box containing different types of well-loved brushes, the tools of the artist's trade, perhaps those of the artist herself. Considerable attention is given to portraying the smooth light-coloured metal, and the sheen and shape of the box in juxtaposition to the various materials and textures of the brushes within and the dark textured background.Context
With origins in Ancient Egyptian and Greco-Roman art, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre and professional specialization in Western painting by the late 1500s, and has continued to evolve across the centuries attracting artists and patrons alike.
Be it a painting or drawing or other form of visual art, a still-life focuses on still objects. The subject matter is inanimate, typically with a focus on commonplace household objects, flowers or fruits. Other types of objects from daily life may also be depicted such as books, medicines, tools, dead game and more. Still-lifes can be done in any art style, not just as realistic art. And still-lifes may be full of symbolic meanings or may simply represent the artist's experimentation with shape, texture, colour, lighting, and placement. Still-life art can also portray complex themes.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Nancy BoydRole
ArtistDate made
1989Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST STATEMENT
"I think it’s important to remind ourselves to be in awe of the world, to continue to ‘see’ freshly. I enjoy looking for beauty in less conventional places. And although my first love is drawing, the accidents of process inherent in using varied media can also create that fresh and exciting way of seeing as I move through a piece.
I’m looking for the universal by witnessing and recording the particular, often through highly re-ordered or abstracted ways. The evidence of my own searching and curiosity may take me to the interior of the body, to the atmosphere of space or to the cell under a microscope. I often think my curiosity is similar to a scientist’s though I have completely different methods. Instead of looking for proofs in my work I want only to witness, to take pleasure in creating and to be curious about what I see and what it might mean."
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Hamilton,Ontario, Nancy Boyd studied art at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto as well as at the University of Waterloo before moving to Vancouver. For years she worked as a designer and architectural renderer, most notably for Expo '86. Boyd taught design, drawing and painting at Capilano University for 23 years before she retired in 2010. During this time she maintained an active studio practice. Her work retains the influences of her early years, notably her interest in mapping, viewpoints and conflations of scale.
Boyd has shown extensively in solo and group exhibitions in the B.C. Lower Mainland and western Canada as well as internationally in the U.S., Japan and Australia. Her work is held in numerous corporate, private and public collections such as Air Canada, St. Paul's Hospital (Vancouver), Capilano University, the Museum of Vancouver and The Keg (Toronto).Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature, Date, LabelTranscription
Signed and dated lower right: Nancy Boyd 1989
Gallery label:
EQUINOX GALLERY
NANCY BOYD
" Brush Box"
Pencil Drawing
1989
22x18"
2321 Granville Street Vancouver CANADA V6H 3G3 (604) 736-2405Dimensions
Dimension Description
SupportHeight
53.3 cmWidth
45.7 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
PurchaseDate
Oct 2, 2018Notes
Lunds Lot #529
