Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Albertson.
Nick, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up in a suburb of Boston in a house with a father that made a living as a freelance graphic designer, but who went to school for painting, and a mother that worked as an art conservator at a museum. From a young age I appreciated painting, but I never felt comfortable with it myself. I preferred using a camera, the lens capturing with precision the images I wanted to create.
I went to Bard College in the Hudson Valley in New York, where I got my degree in photography, and then moved to Portland, Ore, to work at a photo book publisher called Nazraeli Press. After a few years in Portland, I decided to go back to graduate school to get an MFA. In 2010 I landed at Columbia College here in Chicago where I have lived since. I am represented by Aspect/Ratio in West Town, and I own my own printing, retouching, and art documentation business, Color Space Photographic operated out of my art studio near Humboldt Park.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My practice is interested in the relationship of photography and photographic tools with other art forms like painting, sculpture, drawing.
In my series Manufactured Gestures, I photograph everyday objects like rubber bands, paper clips, paper napkins, but I remove them from any context and have them float in space. The shapes become like brush strokes, and the images can be read both as pure abstraction and as a recording of what was in front of the camera at a given moment. In White Light, I use a single long exposure in which I rearrange sticky notes in front of the camera in between bursts of light in an otherwise dark room. This has a layering effect, fragmenting the square shapes and blending different colors. In my Photo Sprays series, I use the materials associated with modern photography (inkjet inks and papers), but create the final pieces by hand, without a lens. The resulting work is “photographic” insofar as it is made with photo materials, but it is entirely created without any photo equipment.
Lately, I have been exploring photo editing software as a source of inspiration as well. Retouching has historically relied heavily on altering a photograph by hand. Though it’s done digitally now, exploring the painterly aspect of contemporary photo editing is intriguing to me, and opens up more avenues for exploration of photography in relation to painting.
In your view, what is the biggest issue artists have to deal with?
I don’t see a single biggest challenge facing artists as different artists have different circumstances. There are definitely problems with the art world and art market regarding how value is assigned, and the real pressures of making a living make it difficult for artists to truly be free to make the work they want all the time.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
You can see more of my work at Aspect/Ratio Gallery in West Town or on my website www.nickalbertson.com. I post to Instagram as well @nickalbertson.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nickalbertson.com
- Email: nickalbertson@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickalbertson/
- Other: http://www.aspectratioprojects.com/nick-albertson
Image Credit:
Nick Albertson/Aspect Ratio
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