(de)constructed Artist Spotlight: Drew Nikonowicz
(de)constructed:
DREW NIKONOWICZ
Entering the second room of the gallery, guests are flanked by two separate projects by Drew Nikonowicz. To the left, a monochromatic video plays on loop. To the right, a seemingly rigid sculptural tapestry hangs from a rod. With Nikonowicz’s work, the viewer will always be rewarded for time spent. The video piece, My Darlings to Kill, has a full run time of nearly 2:45. Dead Thylacine from the Video Game Far Cry III is comprised of hundreds of 3D-printed links, which, when examined from afar, create the image of a Tasmanian tiger. Read on to learn more about the processes behind these works:
Drew Nikonowicz,
Dead Thylacine from the Video Game Far Cry III, from the series, I Know What I Saw, 2021
Unique Digital Tapestry: Hand-connected 3D printed pixels from PLA filament,
46 x 56 inches
Detail from Dead Thylacine from the Video Game Far Cry III
Dead Thylacine from the Video Game Far Cry III, with its video game freeze frame of plastic links, pairs with technology and urban legends to create a unique object. The piece appears rigid at first glance, but the “fabric” flows like a tapestry:
Since July 2020, I have received weekly Google Alerts for the phrase “I know what I saw''. I am also collecting instances of the phrase in popular culture, especially video games, movies and tv shows. I appropriate these source materials into hand-woven tapestries using 3D printed ‘pixels’. Viewed closely, these tapestries fall apart into the individual pixels. As the viewer moves away from the tapestries (or views the work through their cell phone), an image appears. I Know What I Saw becomes more sharply unclear as I spend more time with it. The affirmation “I know what I saw” is not about empirical truth, but rather about a faith in our senses. Photography only further complicates our relationship to this affirmation.
My Darlings To Kill is a response to failure and frustration, two common experiences as an artist. In collaboration with 100 artists around the world, I destroyed over four years of my photographic practice. These images were intended for a project about rebirth, which ultimately failed. The cost of creating meaning from these photographs was their destruction.
By inviting other artists to destroy my work, it becomes a collective act of catharsis. Many of the participating collaborators created something new in their act of destruction - a painting, a snowball, a candle, etc. In embracing failure, we recognize it as essential to the art-making process.
(de)constructed will be on view at Candela Gallery through February 19, 2022.