A Name to Know: Nicholas Sullivan
Our monthly spotlight on a rising artist
Nicholas Sullivan is an artist you should know. Nicholas, or Nick as I will be calling him, makes work unlike anything I’ve seen out there at the moment, which in and of itself is feat worth celebrating. His interests lie within a compelling intersection of material investigation and the various meanings, both that we as humans insert and that exist inherently, that these materials possess. Sculptural in its essence, Nick’s recent work has engaged with / taken the form of such objects as cars, stoves, newspaper, and antique toys—items that have symbolic meaning that goes beyond their function. He celebrated his debut solo show with C L E A R I N G New York at the turn of this year and has more in store in the coming months. In the meantime, I suggest a visit to A.D., a gallery Nick runs with fellow artist (and fellow Nick) Nick Irzyk.
Name: Nick Sullivan
Mode: Sculpture
Homebase: Brooklyn, NY
INSIDE THE STUDIO
How would you describe your practice to someone unfamiliar?
I really believe in the intimate relationship with the specificity of material, objects, and form. Like the reason a T-shirt has four holes of three different sizes -- how this corresponds to the scale and form of our body. Why a hammer is as long and heavy as it is-- how that is engineered to transfer force in a specific way. Why within that there are a million iterations on the hammer to suit specific functions. Why is a baby blanket soft and a railroad track hard? So on and so forth---it's a vocabulary built into the baseline function of our human experience! This makes sculpture so exciting for me.
In the studio day to day I am making things with steel and paper etc, but I am doing a ton of sheet metal right now and making many forms but most predominantly stove related objects.
When was the last time you tried something new in the studio and the result was positive?
I try new things in the studio every time I am there. That doesn't mean I create the archetype for an entirely new form-- but I am very actively and consciously awake to the reality of the object I am making as opposed to blindly fabricating it. I have to troubleshoot the next steps constantly, learn or invent ways to push the object forward to its fullest power. I find all the versions of this, successes and failures, essential to making resonant objects.
Describe an unresolved work you plan to make one day.
Oh man, so many! I made this object a long time ago (maybe 2019?) that I thought of as a type of vacuum form. Two "bellows" on top and bottom with a central column that had an opening which made the whole object (for me) feel like it should expand and contract to force air through the opening-- like a bellow, vacuum cleaner or lung. I love this thing but I only made one and I should have pushed its possibilities.
OUTSIDE THE STUDIO
What is a book you think everyone should read in their lifetime?
James Baldwin, Another Country.
If you could conduct a successful heist for one artwork, which would it be?
There's a blue period Picasso at the Barnes that is unbelievable but I'd feel bad taking it from the public. So maybe a Felix candy piece ("Untitled" Portrait of Ross in LA) because it will always replenish and is maybe the greatest artwork of the 20th century.
If you didn't live in New York, where would you be?
It's NYC forever for me.
