about
Artist Statement
In the broadest sense, my studio work addresses and employs photography as a technology that informs how we see and how we are seen. Perception and representation are central themes in my practice, which has taken the form of contemplative videos with sound, deconstructed portrait-cum-landscapes, and complex digital collage that echo historic European paintings. I am interested in how different visual styles and approaches determine the cultural legibility of specific people, objects, places, and ideas. I am most inspired by the moments in my work that destabilize existing forms and demonstrate the dynamic fluidity of photography as a medium. Queer critical theory is also very important to my creative research; itself a practical tool that unravels normative frames-of-reference. Like photography, queer critical theories possess the great power, possibility, and promise of revolutionizing how we actualize ourselves and the worlds we seek to inhabit.
Artist Bio
Nick's photographs, videos, collage, tapestries, and sculptures have been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the United States. Their studio work has been published in the University of Pittsburgh culture journal Contemporaneity, and on Strange Fire Collective. As a 2019 ONE Archives Foundation LGBTQ research fellow, Nick studied the photography collection at ONE. They are the Chair of the Society for Photographic Education Pride Caucus, which serves LGBTQAI2S+ students and faculty in college art departments across the U.S. Nick holds an MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico, and a BFA in Art History, Theory & Criticism from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Nick is Photography Faculty, Photo Area Head, and Applied Photography Certificate Program Coordinator at Santa Rosa Junior College in California.
