Nancy MacKenzie
Nancy MacKenzie is an internationally recognized fiber artist from Stillwater, Minnesota. Her bold, sculptural wall art and wearable art have been exhibited in galleries across the United States, as well as in Asia and Latin America. Recent exhibitions included two-person shows with her husband, Warren MacKenzie, at Gallery Gen in New York City, and at Lacoste Gallery in Lennox, MA.  Her work is included in the permanent collections of The Goldstein Museum, University of Minnesota; Issey Miyake, Tokyo, Japan; The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN; and the Minnesota Contemporary Crafts Collection of the Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN.  

Nancy’s recent wall pieces have become increasingly sculptural. “The baling twine that I collect from my neighbor’s fence posts serves my delight in scavenging and recycling. When it is sewn into channels, it stiffens soft fabrics and encourages sculptural manipulation. It invites combination with my hand dyed textiles as well as selections from my hoard of commercial fibers and found objects such as recycled plastic nettings, wine corks, pyrometric cones, plastic industrial tubing, coffee filters and twigs. I enjoy the challenge of improvising techniques to solve the engineering and aesthetic problems that emerge in the process of construction.”  

Grand Hand Gallery owner Ann Ruhr Pifer said, “Nancy’s work is marked by a bold spirit of experimentation, adventure, and a sense of daringness. I take great pride in promoting the work of talented Minnesota women artists, and here is a woman who has been a university researcher, a full time mother, an art teacher, and now a grandmother, who is one of the most innovative fiber artists in the country. She pushes the edges of design, and isn’t afraid to make bold political and social commentary with some of her work. I find both the woman and her work very inspiring.”

portrait: Christopher Felver