Nicholas Stewens
法兰克福
2022
“作品因碰撞偏差呈现出一种忧郁感，而太有层次，太荒谬时，又会呈现出一种幽默感。”
Q：为什么选择做相对传统的写实绘画，是否会觉得受限于惯例和刻板印象，限制了创新和实验的空间？
A：我希望我的作品能够令人信服。不只是指表面上完美复制的视觉效果，而是呈现的图像或信念能够令人信服。绘画的悠久历史和它发展中形成的习惯是对我创作理念的补充。在这种情况下，我会觉得它们是有趣的，而不会觉得受制于此。
Q: Why did you choose to pursue relatively realistic painting? Do you feel constrained by conventions and stereotypes, limiting the space for innovation and experimentation?
A: I want my work to be convincing. Not in the sense that surfaces are visually perfectly copied, but in the sense that they deliver a convincing performance relating to the presentation of an or belief in an image. The long history and conventions that painting is informed by is something that feeds into that idea. In that way, I feel they are fun to play with as opposed to feeling constrained by them.
Crowd II, CrowdIII、CrowdII, 80×60cm, Oil on canvas, 2023
Almost Home II, 222×202×15cm, Oil on canvas, 2021, ©Nicholas Stewens
Q：为什么用两个视角来同时呈现Broucey-Lou?
A：这个作品的原型是一个大雕塑，从前后两个视角呈现同一个物体，能同时让它们面对面的看着对方。在这个表达中，我选择了马，因为它在历史上是一个被大量描绘的用于传递各种象征性信息的对象。我希望作品能描绘出令人不适环境中沉思的瞬间，并使观众投入到这种体验中。
Q: What motivated you to present the artwork "Broucey-Lou" from two different perspectives?
A: The work originated in one big sculpture, presenting one object from both the front and the back, while at the same time making them face/ look at each other. Within that structure, I chose the horse because it has been historically a heavily depicted body used for a variety of symbolic messages. I was hoping that it would be that depicted contemplative moment within that uncomfortable situation that invites the viewers into the work.
Broucey-Lou, 284×189cm, Oil on canvas, 2022
Q：你的作品多发生在一个背景中，你是如何通过作品表达你所处的语境，并探索背景与主题之间的相互关系的？
A：我在创作时，会把找到的素材和我自己拍摄的照片拼贴在一起。有时，作品中的故事发生的空间使这个画面值得被表现；并产生了突破性的东西。比如：这次我们在SIMULACRA的展，我的作品是在一个体育场里呈现个人，在一个他们知道会被注视的空间里呈现他们。个人身份会在一些瞬间体现出来。体育场里的观众和展览参观者的视角对于建立这种瞬间至关重要。
Q: Your works often take place within a particular background. How do you express the context in which you exist through your artwork and explore the relationship between the background and the subject matter?
A: When I produce images, I collage found footage and pictures I took myself. Sometimes the space in which the situation takes place provides the key element, that makes the situation worth presenting; something that creates the break. For example: For the show we produced at SIMULACRA, I staged individuals inside a Stadium, presenting them in a space where they are aware of being watched intensively. Hints towards the depicted person’s identity get sucked into the performative dynamic they are suspended in. The audience/stadium visitors are crucial to establish that dynamic.
Cheerleader, 210×140cm, Oil on canvas, 2023
Q：怎样理解你作品中荒诞世界的外显或个人在他者投射的部分呢？
A：在我们对环境和他人的感知中，我们总是孤独的。我们可以通过交流进行比较，并试图在一些事情上达成共识，但这都是基于你自身视角的解读。这形成了一个空间，使得我们可以把别人放在一套标准下，或者对他们进行美化，有时两者是可以互换的；甚至可能把他们本没有的想法或志向投射到他身上，等等。这种空间反过来又产生了一种渴望，大家希望像自己理解自己那样被别人理解。这种不可避免的理解偏差使我的作品呈现出一种忧郁感，但更重要的是，当这一切变得太有层次感太荒谬时，又会呈现出一种幽默感。
Q: How do you practice the idea that the images in your works may be the externalization of absurd worldview or projection of a specific self-understanding onto others?
A: In our perception of our environment and others, we are alone. We can engage in conversations to compare and try to create a common understanding but it will always fall back on your interpretation. This leaves space to put others in a box or to glorify them, which is sometimes interchangeable; to project ideas/ideals onto others that they might even want nothing to do with etc. etc. This space in return creates a longing to be perceived as one understands oneself. The unavoidable potential to fail at that presents itself in my images in a sense of melancholy but also, more importantly when it all becomes a bit too layered and absurd, in a sense of humor.
Oh Boy!, 190×270cm, Oil and coloured pencil on canvas, 2020, ©Nicholas Stewens
Q：你的作品集中在雕塑, 绘画和装置领域，是基于什么样的理念或创作目的，来决定不同媒介之间的互动与呈现方式？你认为不同类型的材料或媒介对你的表达有影响吗？
A：我觉得这与对不同媒介的关注与理解有关，而我考虑更多的是什么方式最适合创作。我倾向于使用那些具有悠久传统的媒介，如绘画和木材。无论是雕塑、绘画还是其他形式，我都以同样的方式看待，他们都是创作理念的产物。材料的选取只是使得作品的呈现可以被归在一种背景或“无聊”的历史中。
Q: Your body of work encompasses sculpture, painting, and installations. What ideas or creative intentions guide your decision-making process regarding the interaction and presentation of different mediums? And do you think different kind of materials or mediums have effect on your expression?
A: I feel that the different mediums relate to different sets of understanding. So it's more about what method of production fits the idea best. I've been noticing that I tend to work with mediums that have a long and loaded tradition, such as painting and woodworking. Ultimately I understand my works equally, whether it's sculpture, painting, or something else, as a product of one gesture. The choice of material provides the context and "silly" history in which the gesture/performance indulges.
Proof, Collaboration w/ Villiam Miklos Andersen Wood, acrylic glass & oil on canvas, 2022, ©Nicholas Stewens
Set, 2021, Video set incl. framed drawing, tissue box and a couch Dimensions variable, ©Nicholas Stewens
Symbols, 14×10×5cm, Wood, wallpaint, styrofoam, fabric, transparent paper & butterfies, 2023, ©Nicholas Stewens
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