ZOOM IN issue #3
A collection of work and annotations by Trever Nicholas, with an interview on his life and art.
Trever Nicholas is a 27-year-old multimedia artist who lives in New Brighton. He says this about his work:
“I am curious about our visceral understandings of
beauty, desire, disgust, oddity, and phenomenological entities . . . . The artwork I create is derived from experimentation and reverie. My studio
is filled with ambitious failures and curiously successful experiments.”
Read a brief interview with Nicholas here.
Plug Rug, 2003, 45″ x 55″ x 1″, Earplugs, nylon mesh
Plug Rug contains over 20,000 earplugs squished into a nylon mesh. The earplug topography has a memory: if someone presses a hand onto the piece the shape would remain after pulling the hand away. Slowly, then, the little earplugs would grow back to their original shape.
Plastic Atmosphere, 2005, 45″ x 30″ x 25‚, cable ties, fish line
In this piece I linked thousands of cable ties together and suspended the masses with fishline. I enjoy the idea that “plastic” can mean “something that is easily shaped or molded.” Every time I install Plastic Atmosphere it will turn out different. No matter how much I fight with the plastic masses, I have to compromise between what I want and what the materials want.
Milk Bubble Galaxy, 2005, 18″ x 24″, punched holes in paper
I vividly remember images from my childhood and feel my work often draws upon those memories of my explorations of physical
things. I remember being interested in the shapes and patterns of milk bubbles. I feel privileged to remember childish things so vividly.
Flaccid Wireframes, 2004, Variable dimensions- tallest wire frame 36”, pipe cleaners
In my unsuccessful attempts to construct solid forms out of pipe cleaners, I built these, I hung my failures on the wall. I was uncertain of the rejected forms for many months but they grew on me. They remind me of the imagery I found on the slides I viewed with my cheap plastic microscope as a child.
Bulboids, 2005, 36″ x 28″ x 26″, latex balloons
When walking through the city or spending time in my studio, I feel like anything is fair game for making art. I often find myself compelled to take pictures, or take things home with me that I am attracted to. Bulboids is a result of this, and the forms will soon make themselves into a much larger installation.