Urban Swamp

In October of 2012, when the Cadence Pop-up Gallery opened its doors for the first time during Art Fallout, we could have never imagined how many talented artists we would encounter in just two short years. As creative professionals we thrive on collaboration and learning from others who create. It is with great excitement that we feature the work of visual artist Ashley Nardone during this year’s Art Fallout. We encountered Ashley Nardone’s talents during the summer of 2013 when she participated in Revel on the Block’s art exhibit – ReImagine.

We were drawn to her meticulous attention to detail, the craftsmanship of her work and a rare thoughtfulness behind each large scale installation piece she creates. Ashley’s ability to morph everyday materials into something spectacular for the viewer to ingest is just the beginning of her talent. Three months prior to this installation we worked with Ashley listening to her concept, stock piling materials and discussing layout possibilities. We hope you can make it out on October 18th for the opening reception to see first hand what she has created! Read more below about the artist and her work in her own words.

CADENCE | Does creativity run in your family?

ASHLEY NARDONE | Yes and No; no one in my family has ever held their career in a creative field, but they do not lack in creativity either. My father is a civil engineer who enjoys sketching and plays guitar. My mother is a bookkeeper and a wiz with numbers. One of my sisters works in theater and the other is an elementary school teacher, but I feel all of their jobs require a good amount of creativity.

CADENCE | What was your first paying creative project?

ASHLEY NARDONE | I photographed a friend’s wedding and I think they gave me $150 dollars. I was a music major in school at the time and hadn’t dreamed of a job in the arts yet.

CADENCE | How does your creative process start? Is it different for each project?

ASHLEY NARDONE | Each project is a bit different. There are times where ideas come to me without having to work too hard for an initial start point. Those ideas always come when my mind has a chance to wonder in mundane activities. But for scenarios when my mind is blank, Pinterest, books and magazines will always help to get the creative juices flowing.

CADENCE | You’ve recently co-founded Seldom Seamed with your husband, how has he helped with growing your creative business?

ASHLEY NARDONE | The whole idea of starting a creative company with my husband and the spirit behind our name is about collaborations and combining our strengths. We’ve come to learn in the past few years that, although humbling, it’s the best practice to work with people who can do the things you can’t and it allows exponential growth when pooling skills. Nick is an incredible business man, influential negotiator, gear nerd, computer tech and fabricator. He has a straight forward, unbothered approach to life that balances my creative soft side.

CADENCE | Tell us about your live and work studio in Lake Worth, we hear of these concepts all the time and your living it! Has this scenario increased your creativity? What’s the best part of living/working in Lake Worth Artist Studios?

ASHLEY NARDONE | Having a studio on the bottom floor of my house is the most incredible blessing. The dedicated space to create has allowed me to facilitate the projects I take on, and it simply wouldn’t be possible if we had a traditional apartment or small single family home we could afford. I’m more excited to get to work and productive throughout my day because of the studio.

CADENCE | What skills of formally working in the corporate visual artist world during your years with Anthropologie have payed off the most in your new independent venture?

ASHLEY NARDONE | I learned a lot from their knack for manipulating ordinary, common-day materials or objects into transformed pieces of art.

CADENCE | Your exhibit, Urban Swamp, is a reflection of your romance with South Florida’s tropical canopy and its unique wetlands. How did this fondness and reflection begin?

ASHLEY NARDONE | As a kid, I never saw Florida’s natural trees and plants as desirable, to me they were dingy and boring. I think my love for South Florida began when I was able to leave it for periods of time for things like study abroad and international missions work. Coming back home each time I left, I became more aware of the uniqueness of Florida and it always felt more and more like home base.  Now when I’m driving around South Florida’s streets, I see things I didn’t before, and I’ve come to love and appreciate the swampy roots of my home.

CADENCE | What were your inspirations for the choices of organic and man-made materials you chose as element for Urban Swamp?

ASHLEY NARDONE | My focus for this show was to integrate materials and bring together soft natural and hard urban materials. I choose to incorporate actual plant life, paper and wood contrasted by metal.

CADENCE | Did the location of this exhibit/popping up in a Landscape Architecture firm influence Urban Swamp at all?

ASHLEY NARDONE | In a way, having my exhibit in a Landscape Architecture firm had some influence on the direction of the show, but it was only a small part of my reasoning. In the past few years, my husband and I have been adventuring out into nature more regularly and it really has helped me to appreciate the world around me and see it differently. When we adventure, I’m immersed in the land and it’s hard to deny or ignore its beauty.

CADENCE | What’s the one tool or material in your studio you can’t work without?

ASHLEY NARDONE | An x-acto knife. There’s something completely therapeutic and soothing about cutting with that tool. My husband calls me an “x-acto ninja” and says I can build anything with my knife and a straight edge.

CADENCE | Why do you create?

ASHLEY NARDONE | Honestly, I feel like God made me to create and it feels like the most natural response to living that my body makes. Most of what I do or see day to day triggers a desire in me to create.

CADENCE | Of all the different creative outlets you work in, is there a preferred media you enjoy working with most?

ASHLEY NARDONE | I’ve been working a lot with paper recently and I’m a big fan of it! Paper can be very sculpturally powerful when used correctly as you’ll see in Urban Swamp exhibit.

CADENCE | Do your daily journeys inspire your projects or do you seek adventure to find inspiration?

ASHLEY NARDONE | It goes both ways, but I’d say the journey inspires more project most often.

CADENCE | Do you have a certain time of day you feel you work the best or do you work when you feel most inspired?

ASHLEY NARDONE | Art is work like any other job, it’s a discipline and if I just waited for inspiration to begin or continue, it would take me forever to finish projects. But I definitely work best after I’ve had my morning pot of tea. I also align creation periods with my husbands work schedule so that we can spend quality time together and create at leisure for enjoyment.

CADENCE | If you could choose to be in any other profession, what would it be and why? 

ASHLEY NARDONE | I think I would enjoy some sort of cooking type job for a breakfast and lunch type establishment.

Ashley Nardone of Seldom Seamed