Nancy Good with her new public art installation, “Habitat Curtain” at the Clark County Wetlands Park.

Good Vibrations: A Conversation with Artist Nancy Good

BY BRIAN G. THORNTON, IIDA

GOOD, GOOD, GOOD, GOOD VIBRATIONS.

There is no mistaking the iconic chorus Brian Wilson wrote in 1966 that became the classic Beach Boys rock song. The lyrics unfold like a miniature symphony about that colorful girl that gave him “excitations.” As I sat with Las Vegas artist Nancy Good, I had that same vibration as I harmonized the Beach Boy’s hit internally. Texas-born around the time this song was scripted, Good has been a Las Vegas resident since 2011. Since then, she has received grants and awards from The Nevada Arts Council Jackpot Grant that led to large-format photographic/digital artworks on fabric for exhibition at the Winchester Cultural Center, Las Vegas.

Make no mistake; this is a story about art. It could very well be about music. Oscillating somewhere between art and music is Nancy Good. But by all means, this is about the creative senses that emanate from this very special woman whose creativity touches all your senses at once. Let’s explore.

“Layered Blues“ – As a lifelong musician/vocalist, Nancy has written and performed her share of the blues and she has naturally progressed to taking on a visual interpretation.

I’M PICKIN’ UP GOOD VIBRATIONS

I walked into Nancy Good’s CORE CONTEMPORARY GALLERY near downtown, not far from our Arts District, not knowing what to expect. Although I cheated and listened to a 38-minute blog provided by Chic Compass magazine’s Jamie Hosmer, there was still so much more to discover. Her voice on the blog was resonant and engaging when describing her art and travels to get to Las Vegas. When I say I’m picking up Good vibrations, I speak in decibels, oscillations, and purposefully in musical and sound references. One of the excitations was learning about synesthesia. Although this term was new to me, its concept of feeling outside the body or internally depending on your perception was not lost. I heard Nancy speak of it.

The word “synesthesia” is a Greek portmanteau: “synth” (together) and “esthesia” (perception). Synesthetes can often “see” music as colors when they hear it and “taste” textures like “round or “pointy” when they eat foods. It’s known that some who have synesthesia possess a high level of interconnectedness between the parts of the brain that tied to a sensory stimulus. With her art, she responds, “I was constantly trying to explain my sensitivity to vibrations (i.e., audible frequencies) and soon realized that I have a similar sensitivity to visual vibrations. I don’t “see” colors, per se, but I do have deep emotional responses to color vibration (and sound vibration) and have developed a visual language around these responses. Research into a sensory stimulus to help me explain what I was experiencing led me to synesthesia, which then gave me a way to help others understand.”

Of course, that led to the usual – When did you first know? “It’s like asking, “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” she said, “This extra awareness is inseparable from my creativity.” Your extra special gift overarches several interests and talents in art and music. “[I’m] not sure whether it was conscious ‘knowing,’ but rather it was an awareness of when I felt whole. My wholeness began too early for me even to recall accurately. I often must rely upon my mother’s memory to fill in the blanks with stories like: “Being pulled from the nursery to direct the church choir at age 2, or my first word being ‘LIGHT.’ I was always drawing, painting, writing stories for toys, pets, etc. I do have some recollection of beginning guitar and piano lessons at age 7 or 8. However, those recollections are laced with trauma related to a manic episode experienced by a family member when all possessions of our household (including my piano and guitar, clothing, toys, furniture, etc.) were lost. Music did eventually return through singing, learning to play flute, baritone horn. It was decades before I could successfully learn to play guitar due to this experience. I’ve also found healing through forgiveness of this trauma and compassion for the hell my family member was going through prior to receiving a diagnosis of mental illness related to their own horrific childhood trauma.

This is a story about art. It could very well be about music. Oscillating somewhere between art and music is Nancy Good.

Nancy Good studied classical voice, creative writing, and art at Eureka College in Illinois and continues to grow her craft through extensive experimentation. Most people can barely do one task at a time – How did you focus on your music and art? “I chalk that up to being fairly balanced in terms of left and right brain development.” Good answer. Then I asked – Did your family support your interests? “For the most part. I do know my mother has been anxious about my non-traditional approach to life and was terrified when I lived out of my van playing music full-time on the road. I understand her desire for me to have stability related to income, but I tend to focus on that “wholeness” I referred to above.”

SHE’S GIVING ME EXCITATIONS

Whenever you encounter a spiritual soul or someone that plain inspires, you begin to wonder…how they got here. You’ve lived in many states before coming to Las Vegas: Montana, California, Tennessee, and Illinois – Explain how each place led you to Core Contemporary. “The circuitous path is one I tend to prefer … and is a path that helped develop all those tools that help me operate a gallery while also pursuing a full-time art career. I learned business acumen in Montana during employment as an office manager/bookkeeper or administrative secretary. Legal assistant/paralegal skills helped keep me afloat in Tennessee while focusing on being a better songwriter. Being a musician in Montana, leading a band and its promotion helped me learn how to effectively market myself through press releases, media packets, etc. My English courses in college continue to support how I communicate.”

Nancy, you have traveled to far reaches like Australia, Africa, Vietnam; your childhood residency in Japan – So, did these changes influence your style? “I simply love the world. And remain endlessly fascinated with its people and cultures. Research into my DNA has revealed the ancestry I share with people from Africa, Middle East, Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, Italy, England, Ireland, and more. I often feel as though DNA memory communicates through my creative endeavors, and I welcome this as a type of collaboration.”

“How ‘Bout Those Blues” by Nancy Good

Now, about your art and this great gallery space. Ms. Good was good about describing the space and how it came to be. I visited on a midweek mid-day opening hour and had the place to myself. Was it spiritual? Absolutely, and there was a conspicuous pew that I sat upon in lieu of the typical gallery bench to contemplate. After formal introductions, she went back to painting as I did my solitary tour. After all, this is a working art studio inside a gallery space. CORE CONTEMPORARY GALLERY is a second-floor sky-lit open plan as configured that day. Art is presented around the walls and in the center of the area. We right-brained people want to start alphanumerically and circulate counterclockwise to end up near her studio. The idea that people rely predominantly on either a rational, logical, “left-brained” cognitive style or a more creative, abstract, “right-brained” style is one of the more prevalent neuromyths, believed by approximately 80 percent of educators around the world.(1)

Nancy, is this your creative dream venue? “It is ‘A’ dream venue at present. I have hopes for expansion both in terms of physical space and programming. I hadn’t been looking. One could say the space came looking for me as it was never a goal to have a gallery. I especially didn’t want to have the “Nancy Good Gallery.” But I did see that Las Vegas desperately needed more quality exhibition space that supported working contemporary artists. My friend, Ron McMenemy, who owns New Orleans Square, kept “nudging” me about the space. And once we were able to work out feasibility, it was a natural progression to commit to a lease.”

Nancy Good with her public mural, “LOVE Grows Here!”

I wondered if the gallery spoke to her or ignited her synesthesia. “Yes, the space speaks volumes. But it definitely had different “vibrations” when I first moved in. Once I was able to imbibe the space with honorable intentions, sacred creativity, and prayer, it became a place of sanctuary that people feel when they enter.”

Las Vegas has a burgeoning and definitive arts district – When did you know this space would work for you here and why? “Though Vegas has a designated arts district, I’ve watched it evolve through the years to be less supportive of creative spaces (unless you have the cash) and more about food and beverage. I simply couldn’t afford the square footage lease rates in the arts district, especially for the square footage I have now. Plus, the benefit of having 1,000+ free parking spaces available, an elevator to my second-floor location, the support of my neighboring tenants and property owners dedicated to creating community all contribute to the ‘rightness’ of the place.”

Many other artists were displayed on my visit, which led to – What other collections have you produced here? “I love that I can definitively say the gallery has provided opportunities for close to 300 artists over the three years in this space and has engaged with several thousand community members. Exhibitions related to free speech, body image, gender equity, racial equality, and shows allow artists to take chances and grow, and juried shows that support artist development. Hopefully, [there will be] more of the same and additional non-profit programming geared at mentorship and artist development. I mostly work in silence. Silence allows me to fully experience the vibrations of the space around and in front of me (such as the canvas).”

“Voices of the Ancients“ by Nancy Good

I would be remiss if I overlooked the influence of the pandemic. You, like so many others, were even more isolated. How did those challenges influence your creative vibrations? “Isolation was something I ‘collaborated’ with in terms of creativity. For a solid nine weeks, I worked in my tiny home studio, necessitating smaller canvases. Though the space was smaller, the intensity of the vibrations remained as strong as ever, meaning I never felt true constraint.”

If money were no object, what changes would you make for the future of Core Contemporary? “First, I’d actually take a salary. Second, I’d hire an assistant, which would allow me to focus more on both my studio work and program development.”

REVERBERATION

Good is uniquely attuned to large format murals among her repertoires. “Yes. There are very few creative tools I shy away from, and likely more I will learn through the end of my life. I am endlessly fascinated by human expression and how we find ways to “say” what we feel, observe, question. Various mediums allow me to express different concepts. Photography helps me share what my eyes see and how they see something different from another. Mural paintings allow me to create work that can fill the viewer’s field of vision in a way that becomes immersive and, in fact, much of my mural work is interactive in that viewers soon learn they must change perspective to see all that is within the painting. I also love creating what I call “A2D” work, i.e., ‘analog’ to ‘digital,’ whereby I take one of my paintings (analog) and transform it into digital 3-D landscapes, often animated.”

Future exhibitions – What does the next wave look like? “I’m planning more performance art, musical concerts, vintage avant-garde movie screenings, exhibitions as a tool for advocacy, and more.”

Creatives appreciate works of others – So, whose art do you like, follow, or collect? “I collect almost any art that makes me “feel” something viscerally. One of my favorites is my friend (I call her sister), Kim Johnson. I also have a deep appreciation for female artists who are tackling the subject of gender divides through subtlety, humor, and compassion – Nevada artists such as Sapira Cheuk, Clarice Tara Cuda, Jung Min, Stormi Holt, Michelle Graves, Omayra Amador, Kristine Shomaker, and others outside of Las Vegas, such as Suzanna Scott, Judy Chicago, Ashley Longshore, Cindy Sherman, Sally Hewett, and more. I see it (CORE CONTEMPORARY) as an incubator for a stronger arts community.”

“How ‘Bout Those Blues” by Nancy Good

ECHOES

Thoughts of reflections and repetitions of sound waves come to mind as we are anticipating her next echo or brush strokes. What a joy it was for me to meet and experience Nancy Good, an incredibly creative and multi-talented artist with an incredibly diverse background! “Good Vibrations” is the last No. 1 song Brian Wilson wrote. That classic went on to earn platinum status. The recurring cello backbeat and ethereal tones of the song’s theremin played out in my head. As I contemplate what’s next for Nancy Good, certainly her studio work and the gallery space will evolve like a musical composition. There definitely will be more compositions to follow. Call and response, a natural rhythm, and yet, the beat goes on.

(1) Exploring The Left Brain/Right Brain Myth By Melina Uncaphe. Deans For Impact/BLOG, September 9, 2016.

CORE CONTEMPORARY
900 E. Karen, Suite D222
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702-805-1166

www.corecontemporary.com