Meet Nancey B. Price: Collage Artist & Storyteller

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nancey B. Price and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nancey, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am a self-taught collage artist, writer, and performance storyteller from Girard, GA. I draw my creative inspiration from a plethora of sources, many in my very own back yard. I credit my writing and storytelling abilities to decades of listening to my family share oral histories and anecdotes of yesteryear. Having spent so much time enthralled by the way they become so animated and passionate in the way they share these stories, I channel that passion in my own work. Furthermore, my journey as a collage artist grew out of my childhood obsession with paper dolls and my sudden desire to tell stories through the visual arts as well. It’s through this form of visual storytelling that I’ve gained the most traction as a creative thus far. Having received early confirmation that collage art will be a permanent fixture in my life through a commission from O, the Oprah Magazine in 2017, I’ve grown to take my artistry more seriously while also staying true to the influence from my family that inspired my creativity in the first place.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In developing my work, I explore how it feels to live life in a Black body and what it looks like to exalt and celebrate that Blackness from the fields of rural America to the stars in the night sky, and everywhere in between. My art is dynamic—it sets scenes and tells stories without saying a word. I had my first solo exhibition in 2019 and I’m still on cloud nine from that experience. Since then, I’ve grown more comfortable in my position in the art community and less afraid to put myself out there. One of the things I’m most excited about is my upcoming residency with Dear Artists. The residency is called “Dear Artists With Anxiety” and the intent is for womxn artist to highlight and create dialogue around art and mental health and how each can affect the other. I will be taking over the Dear Artist platform on Instagram (@dearartists) on the first week of February 2021 to share my experiences with anxiety and how that has informed a series of collages I’ve been working on for the latter half of 2020.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When I’m in Atlanta, my favorite places to visit are Little Five Points and the BeltLine. While at Little Five Points, I love to visit Charis Books & More, which is the oldest independent feminist bookstore in the country. As a bibliophile, I love to be in the presence of books, even if I know I can’t possibly read them all. With my background in Women’s & Gender Studies, this bookstore particularly speaks to me as a safe having for my academic mind to roam free. Furthermore, I love walking and riding a bike along the Beltline on a beautiful sunny day. With all the shops and restaurants along the BeltLine, there are so many different things to do while also being out in nature.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this shoutout to the Black collage community on Instagram, especially #blackcollagesmatter hashtag spearheaded by Brittany M. Reid (@paper.heart.gallery) and the @blackcollagists arts incubator founded by Teri Henderson (@halleteri). I refer to them in my head as my Collage Cousins. Over the past year, I have been introduced to so many other Black collage artists whose work has inspired me in so many ways because of the work that Brittany and Teri have done on that platform. Shout out to y’all!

Website: nanceybprice.com
Instagram: @nanceybprice

Image Credits
Personal photo by Nicole Anelas Non-Personal photos by Nancey B. Price