groovy news

Painter/ Photographer, Nicke Gorney
By R.B. Stuart

Nicke Gorney wanted to be an artist from the early age of twelve. With an interest in art and literature, oddly enough, she wasn’t drawn to painting but instead as a pre-teen had the romantic notion of being a writer. “In my late teens and early 20s I became more visual with photography and painting and the process of making art,” Gorney remembered.

Gorney, an only child, was born in Montreal. With an American father she split her time being raised in Canada and New York City. “As a young man my father came to this country from Poland. In his early years he was a writer, poet and actor. But because of the struggles to care for his family he stopped along the way, but he always had the passion to write,” Gorney explained.

Her desire for the written word came from her father’s uncle, Jay Gorney who wrote in the early ‘30s the song, “Hey Brother Can You Spare a Dime.”
But she decided to pursue her interest in psychology and attended college, which turned out to be very turbulent years for her. “I wasn’t crazy about college. I’ve always hated those social norms,” Gorney admitted. “By my mid 20s I left Montreal and moved to New York City where I began making art. It became my primary raison d’etre. I’ve pursued it ever since without looking back.”
She exhibited her work in New York City at the Ward Nasse Gallery, Ceres Gallery, Sixth Sense Gallery and St. Marks. During her time in the city she curated the Art Farm in Williamsburg, a place where internationally known poets, writers and visual artists performed and exhibited.

Gorney moved to the North Fork in 1994 where she showed her work at Yellow House and Galerie Pelar. She was also invited to show 16 large paintings at the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, and participated in two dozen other solo and group shows. After 25 years of painting, what she loves about it most is color. “Color is what made me want to paint in the first place. In the beginning I tried to control it, now I’m a slave to it,” she conceded adding. “I’m constantly engaged and that’s what I love about it. It’s this transparency looking through light that is very intriguing to me. I also like working by myself,” she laughed.

“The biggest struggle for me is making art turn out how I originally imagined it. It is also challenging marketing yourself. I’m an artist, not a sales person. I know that’s a big part of being an artist, but still….”

She now lives in Greenport where she’s able to create her abstract paintings on a large scale, do large mixed media pieces and shoot extensive photography. “With my photography I guess I’m a little bit of a voyeur. I want to know the stories of my subjects, more in a cinematic way. I call them still narratives. The spontaneity of it interests me and I am totally consumed by it,” Gorney confessed.

Gorney draws inspiration from the abstract expressionists Rothko and deKooning, and photographers Diane Arbus and Cindy Sherman. “My life is about making art. I wanted the artist’s life as a kid and now I have it. I may not be famous, but I’m successful in making art,” she said.

You can get in touch with Gorney by e-mailing her at thegroovymindATmac.com or see her powerful photography at: http://fateye.blogtog.com .

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company