After reading about and listening to many pieces of classical music, I had a choice of expressing in sculpture either what the musical piece was about as written by the composer or expressing my own reactions to the piece. I chose to express my own reactions to Bach. His music can make you feel like spiraling up to the sky through the physical response of dance.
The composition by Bach that especially influenced this sculpture was his Prelude in C Major as performed on guitar by Laurindo Almeida.
The figure I created is of welded steel--turning, reaching, and spinning, hoping to arrive at its destination by spiraling upward, attaining the spiritual through music and dance.
Born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, in 1938, Nancy Malis received a B.A. in art and education from Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant in 1958 and an M.S. in art and education from Saint Francis College in 1973. She also attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and at Colorado Springs.
She taught art in the East Allen County Schools in New Haven from 1971 to 1983. Earlier, she taught since 1960 in schools in Creston, Iowa, Las Animas and Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Canal Winchester, Ohio.
Her favorite media is welded steel sculpture using an oxy-acetylene torch.
She also does metal enameling, watercolors, and ink drawings. She has had
one-person exhibits at the Performing Arts Center and the Allen County Public
Library. Her work has also been included in exhibits at Luther College in
Decorah, Iowa, the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, and elsewhere.
From MUSIC AND MUSICIANS: INTERPRETATIONS BY ARTISTS OF ALLEN COUNTY
An Exhibit at The Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana from November 2 through December 30, 1995.