This work is part of a solo exhibition titled Recreation (First Person) comprised of over 40 ceramic objects and 14 animations within an immersive installation. Runs from Sept 15, 2017 unitl Jan 6, 2018 at The Galleries at Moore College of Art and Design. Recreation (First Person) addresses the complexities of dealing with identity and intimacy within virtual and digital spaces. Exploring voyeurism and performance of self, Philadelphia artist Nick Lenker transforms the gallery into a narrative environment that tells the story of a character whose world is rendered through three-dimensional, digital modeling software and whose existence is the sum of the objects he collects through his journeys. Presented in conjunction with CraftNow—a citywide exhibition examining the fluid boundaries that exist between, among and surrounding varying practices in art, design and craft—this project was conceptualized in 2016 as a representation of the area between two digital screens where a character, who has no face and no skin, has been collecting pieces of others’ lives to build his own identity. The objects in his collection are taken from Lenker’s own memories—hand-built ceramic, polygonal reproductions of real-life commodities—and are recreations of artifacts that bear intimate personal importance to his relationships with others. Nick Lenker explores concepts of creative destruction and apocalyptic transformation through mixed media installations. He is a self-proclaimed, disfellowshipped Jehovah’s Witness whose studio practice is influenced by that religious experience. Lenker received an MFA from Tyler School of Art and a BFA from The University of the Arts. He was most recently a resident artist at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia and has exhibited nationally and internationally. He lives and works in Philadelphia.
© Nick Lenker | Artist Biography, Artworks & Gallery | www.nicklenker.com
