NICOLAUS CHAFFIN, multidisciplinary
Within my interdisciplinary practice I braid processes, materials and performative actions to produce sculpture and installation. The materials I use in my work are utilitarian (rope, lumber, concrete, glass, etc.) and offer a sense of approachability as an entry point towards empathetic engagement, employing the viewer to envision the body in collaboration with the work.
I view my work as a meditation on the invisible labor of my queer forefolks, those who envisioned the utopic through centering experimentation, and those who sought the future through the radical act of survival. Within my work I celebrate the sensations of a visceral life, navigating this terrain to honor those no longer present. My work encourages an inverted gaze to consider the marks we have made, will make and the trajectories of those less visible.
While in residence I will continue to deepen my investigations by creating a series of new sculptural works which utilize clay, wood, water, dirt and time. This work will be activated by the body in performance and left to hold memory of action and occupation in its vacancy.
ABOUT NICOLAUS
Nicolaus Chaffin, Oakland, CA. (b. Bay City, Michigan – 1978) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice encompasses modes of sculpture, performance and installation. He received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2004 and is employed at SFMOMA as a Lead Preparator.
Chaffin has been included in group shows in the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Maryland, New York, Boston and abroad in London, Austria, and the Netherlands. He has attended the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts (2020), was selected for the Bay Area Now 7 Triennial (2014) and attended the Fire Island Artist Residency (2012).