Fulcrum
A commission for a lovely friend.
Best Friends
A pair of paintings made for a show themed on love. Made to be split, shared and enjoyed by two friends.
Paper Houses @ Sarah Gormley Gallery
Paper Houses is on view at Sarah Gormely Gallery in Columbus, Ohio from November 8th to December 2nd, 2023. Paper Houses features my new paintings as well as the collage work of Michele BonDurant. All work is avaliable via the gallery website.
50 Shades of Greige
In celebration of Columbus Metropolitan Library’s 150th anniversary, 24 Columbus-based artists, myself included, were invited to create artwork commemorating the milestone. My contribution 50 Shades of Greige is on view at the Carnegie Gallery in the Main Library in Columbus Ohio from June 2nd 2023 to September 16th 2023. 50 Shades of Greige is an art book I created using 150 swatches of discarded and donated house paint.
House Paint Updates
Blue Spot @ Sarah Gormley Gallery
Blue Spot is a piece from my House Paint Series created for the Begin (Again) exhibition at the Sarah Gormley Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. I am so proud to join the ranks of amazing artists that Sarah has on her roster. This is my first show with Sarah and it is also Sarah’s first in her new gallery space at 95 N High Street. The exhibition will include at least one piece from every single artist on her roster. Begin (Again) opens on Saturday September 17th from 5 - 8 pm.
Blue Spot is 16 in x 16 in x 3 in, made with paperboard and house paint, and was created in 2022.
House Paint Series
The House Paint Series is a collection of painting experiments made exclusively out of donated and mis-tinted house paint. Inspired by this ever-present home improvement material, I am committed to creating 100 paintings over the next year exploring my connection to this medium. These experiments are almost completely unrestricted, utilizing a wide variety of tools to apply the paint and additional materials to expand the content and context of the works. Below you will find the first 18 pieces in the House Paint Series, all completed in 2022.
For the past decade my artistic practice has been primarily focused on sculptural work, making both large and small works from a variety of materials that reflect the curious nature of architecture, community, and domestic life. For the majority of my time as a working artist, I have found I could better investigate my interest in house and home through sculpture, but I have also held a slowly simmering desire to incorporate a traditionally two dimensional material into my work: house paint.
I hope to find a path through these forays with house paint that will lead me to an aesthetic and way of working that illustrates my connection to the material and the subject matter. Already I have found meaning in the various ways of applying and removing paint, exposing the history of the paint on the surface of the work, feeling connected to the evolution of the surface like layers of paint in a house and the layers of expression we share with the world. Sometimes the experiments are fast and formless investigations of color and texture. Sometimes the paintings are slow and tedious explorations of how I can form shape and line. Some pieces are entirely 2D while others include 3D architectural forms that imply a commentary on home or community. All of the paintings are fast, playful and are shared regardless of whether I think they are “good” or “bad” when completed.
You can check out process videos for most of these pieces on my instagram.
PACKED @ The Medici Museum of Art
PACKED as part of the Ohio Art’s Council 2021 Biennial Exhibition at the Medici Museum of Art in Warren, Ohio. February 5, 2022 to May 15, 2022.
PACKED — consisting of 150 cardboard houses, several filled with artwork contributed by collaborating artists — evolves with each new show, morphing to fill different spaces and adding more collaborative artists. For this exhibition Fraixa Albizu, Gill O’shea, Katie B Funk, Todd Jones, and Jill Paz joined the project. Artists who’ve previously contributed artwork include Susanna Harris, Alex Conrad, Liz Morrison, Laurie Ihlenfield, Nick Stull, Mark Eberhardt and Miriam Chon.
PACKED @ Riffe Gallery
PACKED as part of the Ohio Art’s Council 2021 Biennial Exhibition at the Riffe Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. October 31st 2021 to January 7th, 2022.
PACKED — consisting of 150 cardboard houses, several filled with artwork contributed by collaborating artists — evolves with each new show, morphing to fill different spaces and adding more collaborative artists. For this exhibition Fraixa Albizu, Gill O’shea, Katie B Funk, Todd Jones, and Jill Paz joined the project. Artists who’ve previously contributed artwork include Susanna Harris, Alex Conrad, Liz Morrison, Laurie Ihlenfield, Nick Stull, Mark Eberhardt and Miriam Chon.
PAPER INTERVENTIONS
New-ish Paper Interventions. Most of these newer pieces were made in Savannah, Georgia.
SWITCH Sculpture
Switch was made knowing that it only needed to stay together for one photograph. It was artfully taped to a shelf of glass that was held up against my studio wall with a wrapping paper container and two hardcover Harry Potters. Transforming that sculpture into something permanent that could be sold, shipped and displayed took a bit of finagling. I commissioned a custom plexiglass shelf to replace the DIY sheet of glass I used. And then I bought a lot of glue in order to test which one was the right one to secure the houses with. Gluing anything to plexi can be a challenge, as most glues peel right off the smooth plastic surface. Add to it that whatever glue I used had to be clear, wouldn’t yellow over time, wouldn’t seep into the paper and make it blotchy, and would also work on the papers cut edge, rather than it’s flat face. What was the solution? SUPERGLUE! I know, I’m surprised too!
SWITCH
Switch by A.S. King, cover art by Nicki Crock and Samira Iravani
When Penguin Random House reached out to me in July of this year, asking if I would be interested in creating the artwork for a new YA novel, I was 1. Excited by the idea of a new challenge, I’ve done very little illustration work and never a book cover and 2. Thrilled to have the opportunity to read a manuscript before it gets published! (Seriously, as a book geek, this was Grade A Level Excitement. Any other writers out there that need a beta reader, hit me up!!) Switch is “a surreal and timely novel about isolation and human connection” from Michael L. Printz Award winner A.S. King. Samira Iravani from Penguin Random House was my collaborator and designer for this project.
How did this project fall into my lap?!? I am a sculptor who makes weird stuff about houses and community, who’s never made a book cover before, let alone a book written by a critically acclaimed author! Well, once you read the synopsis I think you’ll see why Penguin Random House got in touch.
Time has stopped. It's been June 23, 2020 for nearly a year as far as anyone can tell. Frantic adults demand teenagers focus on finding practical solutions to the worldwide crisis. Not everyone is on board though. Javelin-throwing prodigy Truda Becker is pretty sure her "Solution Time" class won't solve the world's problems, but she does have a few ideas what might. Truda lives in a house with a switch that no one ever touches, a switch her father protects every day by nailing it into hundreds of progressively larger boxes. But Truda's got a crow bar, and one way or another, she's going to see what happens when she flips the switch.
Boxes, frozen time, mysterious stuff going on inside a house, it’s got all of my favorite things! Plus it’s got a bright, complex, resolute, female protagonist! It’s truly an honor for me to represent Amy’s book in this way.
Samira and I worked through several rounds of concepts for the cover, some were closely related to artwork I’ve already created, some were brand new ideas more directly related to the text. Samira was my champion through the entire process, always inviting me to follow my gut and explore what I thought was working best. After trying out a few different ideas, a piece I made a couple years ago popped up in the conversation. It showed four white paper houses cut in such a way as to make it seem that they are sinking into a table. When I made them, I also morphed them into a gif that made it seem like they were either rising, or falling, or maybe even breathing. The editor liked the tumbling motion of the houses, and the shallow depth of field. The whole team was excited about creating something fun with houses.
Inspiration piece from my 30 day project in 2015.
Since that inspiration piece was a few years old, and I knew I could do better than 30 minutes I probably spent putting those original houses together, I decided to remake that piece with Switch in mind. I experimented with house size, shape, orientation and motion, but tried to keep the basic aesthetics of the piece.
Moxie “helping” during the design phase.
When I sent my glass experiments to the team, side by side with the houses set on a wooden table, the report from all parties was YES, WE LIKE THE GLASS, GO WITH THE GLASS. I’m paraphrasing of course. And thus a vision for the final piece was born!
Why yes, that is two Harry Potters, a wooden box and wrapping paper container anchoring the the piece against my wall. I’m a PROFESSIONAL.
A few of my experiment rejects.
One of the variations more closely related to the inspiration.
Once I settled on the dimensions and aesthetics of the new house (I started thinking of them as one house that is transforming, rather then 5 individual houses), I worked through a ton of tumbling variations, remaking and changing the angle of the house ever so slightly so it cascaded into the table at the perfect angle.
And then I started to think how interesting it would be to see the side of the house that’s disappearing, so the underbelly is seen just as much as the surface. Could I figure out a way to do this? I started experimenting with a sheet of glass, taping my various levels of topsy-turvy houses to it. This is always how it goes for me, once I get started, things change and shift, sometimes in really unexpected ways. It can be a tough choice to either stay the course with your original intent, or allow it to morph.
The final photograph I sent for approval.
Obviously, the final photograph I sent is different from what is on the cover. Samira told me that manipulating photos in photoshop is her happy place and she did an AMAZING JOB transforming my bland walls and white houses into the colorful masterpiece you’ll see on your bookshelf. She set the type and expertly shifted the colors to set the scene for readers and match the tone and cadence of the book’s voice. I could not be more pleased and excited with how it came together. Truly the highlight of 2020 for me. Don’t forget to pre-order a copy of Switch, coming May 2021!
Let There Be @ Manifest Gallery
Check out the video documentation of Let There Be featuring my piece Sphaera at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, which includes a time lapse of me installing the piece.
SPHAERA @ Manifest Gallery
Sphaera is on display at Manifest Gallery from October 6th - 23rd, 2020 as part of the LET THERE BE exhibition. You can click here to view the exhibition, which has been beautifully documented in order to be viewed digitally.
PACKED @ Night
When I think about exhibiting my work in a gallery setting, typically that means having the artwork seen under a very specific set of conditions. White walls, high ceilings, track lighting. When I was making PACKED I assumed that it would be seen under those specific circumstances, and planned accordingly, adjusting the internal lights of each special house for best viewing under neutral florescent lights. Although that didn’t stop me from turning the lights off in my workspace and enjoying the glow from PACKED’s softly lit windows from time to time. But sometimes a gallery can surprise you, and sometimes my own art surprises me. That’s what happened last week when gallery staff shared how special PACKED looked at night, with soft streetlight coming in through the floor to ceiling windows of the gallery and the track lighting turned low for the night.
It’s really something wonderful. As the sky darkens into evening, details of the architecture begin to fade and the lights within PACKED brighten and seem to leap forward and beg for inspection. I hadn’t intended for PACKED to be seen this way, it is a result of circumstance rather than planning, and probably all the more beautiful because of it.
PACKED call for collaboration
Get in touch to collaborate! packedcolumbus@gmail.com
PACKED @ ROY G BIV Gallery
PACKED is on view at ROY G BIV Gallery in Columbus, Ohio from May 8th to June 6th, 2020.
ROY G BIV is located at 435 W Rich St, Columbus, OH 43215. ROY is open by appointment Wednesday to Saturday 12 to 6, for the duration of the show. Please email info@roygbiv.com to schedule your visit. If you would like Nicki to be present during your visit, please copy her on your email. ROY may be open to walk-in visits later this month, please contact the gallery before arriving to confirm their ability to receive guests. The exhibition is available virtually through ROY's website and social media.
PACKED and COVID-19
Before COVID-19, I made Packed as an investigation into the curious atmosphere, architecture and sprawling accumulation of suburbia. Knowing that one person’s experience or analysis can only scratch the surface of what that community or home life entails, I invited my own community of artist peers to assist in this exploration. Together we created a few pockets of fantasy, invention and curiosity to hide within the mounded bulk of the piece, conveying the duality of these strange and beautifully engineered neighborhoods.
In the midst of COVID-19 self-isolation, I cannot help but find new context and content in this piece. We are stacked on top of each other, stuck inside, living our own separate lives as best we can, inhabiting these nestled spaces so close to each other, but ultimately on our own. Now rather than limiting the exploration to just a handful of interiors, I think there is value in EVERY home being full of light and fantasy and thoughtfulness. I will be expanding this project in the coming weeks, inviting whoever may be interested to contribute their own magical landscape to sit within a home. Together as a community, we’ll make Packed into something new.
Packed includes artistic contributions from Alexis Zabor, Mark Eberhardt, Nick Stull, Liz Morrison, Miriam Chon, Laurie Ihlenfield , Alex Conrad and Susanna Harris.
PACKED: Works by Nicki Crock at the Springfield Museum of Art
Packed: Works by Nicki Crock is on view at the Springfield Museum of Art in Springfield Ohio from September 13th, 2019 to February 9th, 2020. The show debuts my newest project Packed, as well as Dream House, Paper Interventions, Mandala, Gems, and Release.
