Patricia Nix invites the unexpected. She is outstanding in her ability to try anything in an attempt to unite the varying qualities of the painted medium. "I try to create paradoxes...I am always creating puzzles or problems for myself...playing games.

The components of her art come from the main stylistic movements of our time. Her use of cubism as a foundation is almost shadowed by the surrealist element present in her works.. Nix utilizes a collage of materials and calligraphic images to form a highly personal statement. It is this rich synthesis that fascinates the viewer, and the quality of Nix's visual as well as psychological discoveries add up to a totally satisfying composition. At once personal and universal, her images indicate a concern for humanity explored in an inventive visual structure.

She speaks of a "dialogue between her conscious and unconscious...I court accident in order to let the subconscious do most of the talking. The best paintings often happen quite magically with very little conscious effort."

“The assemblages have the same composition and symbolic connections as the paintings. I must have very intense feelings about someone or something before I can create a successful work."

"All of my work involves more time in thought and conception than in applying the paint, but they demand an even longer period of meditation, brought together by an endless chain of associations. I want every viewer to have a deeply personal and emotional reaction to my work. To achieve this, I include objects that are a part of everyone's experience; toys, cards, and pieces of children's games. Dreams become more of a reality because real objects are used."

She is a compulsive explorer, one who will continue to enrich us with her discoveries in art.



Anthony Toney is an award winning artist whose work has been shown throughout the United States. He is a member of the National Academy of Design and has served on the board of the Artists Equity Association. Author of several books on art, he teaches art at the New School for Social Research, N.Y.C.