Found object assemblage artist
Nancy D Lane
About
Nancy D Lane (working as NancyDee Sculptures) is a found object assemblage artist. She creates quirky, imaginative wall sculptures, 3D sculptures and brooches from the metal, wood, tiles and plastic she gathers from the streets and footpaths of Melbourne and other cities. To date, she has collected—and carted home in her luggage—street trash from Luang Prabang, Vientiane, Hanoi, Honolulu, San Jose, London, Oxford, Penzance, Darwin, Sydney and Canberra.
Nancy has had several solo exhibitions in Melbourne and Luang Prabang, Laos, including one at the Creative Spaces Guild Assembly Point in Southbank in November 2018. Her works have also appeared in numerous group exhibitions. Nancy teaches courses for artists on promoting their practice through social media, as well as workshops for children and adults on creating art using found objects. She is the facilitator of the Creativity Cluster, a group of nine women artists who undertake exhibitions, artist talks, workshops and other art activities across Melbourne.
Nancy has a strong interest in environmental conservation and is committed to sustainability in her arts practice. She loves the challenge of creating art using only the materials others have lost or discarded. She does, however, purchase builders’ adhesive, but compensates for this by donating a portion of her sales to not-for-profit organisations. In 2017 she supported the Lao Friends Children’s Hospital and in 2018 the Music for Everyone School, both located in Luang Prabang, Laos.
Nancy hopes that her creative use of unloved and unwanted trash will inspire people to think more seriously about the environment, and that her works will serve as a gentle reminder to refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose and recycle.
What attracted you to the space and what makes your studio suitable for your practice?
I have enjoyed interacting and collaborating with other artists at River Studios, and hope to have many more opportunities to do this in the future. I also love the industrial location – a mecca for a found object assemblage artist (or as my daughter sometimes describes me, a trash gatherer and gluer). I am also very appreciative of the opportunity to book the shared project and hanging spaces, especially in preparation for exhibitions.
