Announcing My NEW WEBSITE!!! NafisWhite.com

After a semester of fighting with a wordpress template and then walking away from the interface entirely, I have decided to go with a new format and after a month and a half of image gathering, fine tuning, and learning ( & relearning) I am pleased to present to you my new website! It will be updated regularly with new works. I am so excited to have finally figured all this out! 



Don't Forget to Thank Your Heroes & Sheroes

So many times in our busy lives we move from one thing to the next so quickly without stopping to smell the roses, especially in this dawn of technological breakthrough. In 3 minutes, you can check email, text a friend, update your status and write on your blog, all while waiting for the light to change so you can cross the street.

I would like to remind you to make time to acknowledge the people who got you where you are. It didn't happen magically, we didn't just arrive at a place, we were brought their through community, through generosity, belief, support and above all LOVE. 

So today I salute a professor of mine whom I had the great opportunity and privilege to learn from. He is a masterful painter, he can draw superbly and is above all a sterling individual. 








Shout Out! Holly Gaboriault & The RI Art Archive Project

Rhode Island, the Creative Capital has many hidden gems, particularly their inhabitants. Often the people you pass on the street who look unassuming are powerhouse artists who have made Rhode Island their home. And lucky for us! But what happens when you don't know how to access these incredible talents? How do you meet them and support their work?

Holly Gaboriault's brainchild, the Rhode Island Art Archive Project makes finding these talented folks easier than ever. She and her film crew have been spending countless hours visiting artists, and documenting the exchanges on video. I highly recommend checking out the RI Art Archive Project's Blog to meet brilliant artists living in the state, smartly called "In The Studio".  The premiere is coming this October 2013. I am overwhelmed with excitement around this event and will post more information as we near the opening.

New York Summer Bucketlist #2 - The Guggenheim & James Turrell



Being surrounded by the fabrication and then containment and display of objects has led me to think about sculpture in different ways. What happens when these objects outgrow their space and cannot be contained any longer? Where does the work go when it is not being enjoyed by an audience? How can you make the work more sustainable, take up less space and resources? If sculpture moves away from its traditional iterations what does it become, and is it still sculpture?

Everything must transform and become something else over time and we see that sculpture is morphing into a new representation and the new exhibition at the Guggenheim certainly salutes this transition. James Turrell uses light as sculpture and creates a conical form that goes high into the air of the rotunda to support the visual aspect of the work. The lighting embraces the viewer in tones and serves as a meditative landscape. Sculpture has become more and more about experience for me and less about the fabricated object. I look to Ann Hamilton's Event of a Thread and the recent show at the New Museum as examples of this phenomenon.

What's more, I look forward to seeing this in person later this month.







In Preparation of New Works

I have been wanting to start out on new works and have been so busy that it has been difficult to set aside time to make. I miss using my hands to create and to think. Sometimes I feel that I am lost but it is the loss of this tactility that creates a void in my world. Not to say that worthwhile endeavors haven't happened lately. I have recently finished my first year at RISD, I assisted Admissions and CSI with new student orientation and I am working 40 hours a week in the Foundry. There are six more weeks left before I begin preparations for classes and my goal is to make new works each week. I will chronicle them here as they come forth into existence. 

Before those pictures come, here are some snaps of Waiting for Godot in process and finished. 










And Sometimes You Just Have to Kiss It

I feel like this at times, an overpowering urge to kiss an amazing piece of work right square on the mouth. In recent weeks I have fallen back in love with the work of John Cage, Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Janine Antoni. 

I have been speaking with friends often about the experience of art, the experience of life and living. I have had the good fortune of being able to travel recently and take in my surroundings, the sounds, touch, feeling and smell of a place. I have been to Newport and Colt State Park, to Tillinghast Farm and Chatham's gorgeous beaches. I have been smitten by nature and am ready to get back to work in the studio. Experience, the experience and the memory it leaves. This is what matters more and more.






Stefan Sagmeister - Design Design Design



After first being introduced to Stefan Sagmeister by way of TED talks, I am somehow being drawn to him again today. I have been thinking about design and sculpture, how to take more risks and really push my boundaries and I really enjoy how he continues to keep reinventing himself.


Recently he has started a new partnership called Sagmeister & Walsh which I find really interesting. The work coming out of the studio is super promising and is a reminder to me to keep pushing boundaries, challenge myself and others, work smarter and keep sharing the Love.

Incidentally I need his book now more than ever...Things I Have Learned. Check out his TED Talk from 2009 below entitled The Power of Time Off.


Local Love From Radish!

Thanks to García's keen eyes, she found a mention about us in a local blog. We first met Tim at Radish, a food truck that specializes in local delicious fresh food for those on the go particularly around the campuses of RISD, Brown & JWU. García and I make jewelry and on this occasion we were at the RISD Student Sale in May working out table when he came up and picked out a pin he liked. Find the link to the article below. Gotta appreciate the love!!! Thanks for supporting RISD artists Tim!!!

Here is what he said about us with a pic of the walnut and cherry wood pin he bought...



"I am glad that I decided to walk around the Art Sale before it was over because I found a gem. I fell in love with a hand made pin. If you go to RISD you may know Nafis White & Garcia Sinclair they sold me a pin that I plan on wearing daily. Check out the pin above it showcases a man climbing a mountain. The reason I picked this one out of about 25 pins is simple. In life i have always been faced with some type of mountain to climb. Each and every obstacle has turned me into a creative problem solver. There is not 1 mountain I can’t climb and over come. I’m excited for my future and I wonder what the next challenge is! Thanks for the amazing pin ladies I will wear it proudly thats for sure." - Timothy Silva

RISD Year 1 = Success! & My Bones are Tired

It has been beyond an informative and shaping year for me. My mind has been blown in ways I had only dreamed and I have been most fortunate to befriend a bevy of really fucking amazing people. My professors, my peers, the staff I have the pleasure of working with and the support of my wife and family has kept me centered and my eyes have been on the prize without pause. Here's a little trip down memory lane for you, my work over the course of two semesters. A project a week. That's how they roll out here. Some are installations, others are large scale works and some are smaller. They all required so much and I learned a colossal amount. Cray in the best way.
Cheers!


















Making Waves at RISD

Well, here it is, a mention on the RISD website regarding our collaborative piece, Waiting for Godot. I am so proud, honored and excited. And, it comes the day the Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding the constitutionality of Prop 8, the anti-gay California measure and arguments around marriage equality. What a big day in so many ways.

Check the article here


Waiting for Godot, The Sculpture Emerges

The amount of work that I have undertaken has been challenging even for me, a to the bone work-a-holic. I have moved through a rigorous RISD Wintersession, a five week course load intensive in black and white photography which I love and appreciate even more than before. All the while Garcia and I have been laboring intensely over the collaborative sculpture that will make its home at the front of the RISD Museum in mere days. 

We have achieved so much in such a little time and it feels almost as if we have given birth to this work. After over 5,000 individual welds, and over 500 deeply labored, fabricated triangles we have released the work from our charge to be galvanized and painted. It is now over 6 feet tall and dances before the eyes. I can only say that this is a proud moment and one of many that I hope to share with my beloved partner. Below is a picture of the piece after it was galvanized. I look forward to seeing it in fluorescent pink, a bright beacon stating our presence on this prestigious campus. More news to follow regarding our work, Waiting for Godot.


Art Thoughtz By Jayson Musson aka Hennessy Youngman


One of my recent obsessions has been watching the videos made by Hen Roc Obama aka Hennessy Youngman. He is a critical thinker and fine artist who knows the art world well. Check one of his most popular videos below.  


Here is Jayson discussing his new work and the Hennessy Project.


On Exploits

Well, this week has shaped up to be a hum dinger and it is only just newly Wednesday. I have been developing black and white photography with a serious vengeance and have enjoyed the process immensely since beginning an intro to photo class for this years Wintersession. I was also able to apply to three art shows in a matter of minutes this evening which is to say that there is always something to be done to push yourself ahead. I don't know if I will be shown in these shows. I will certainly be considered just for entering so there is that. What I would like to briefly say, before getting back to more homework is that there are always exploits awaiting. Make it count, always show up, because not everyone has the stamina to make the effort, and believe me you can cash in when others cash out, so with that, I retire my pen for tonight as I retire to my bed and get rest for what can only be described as a hectic day ahead. New job, and meeting, a photo critique and meetings in the afternoon. I pray I know my name come Friday, but then again, Garcia and I have much to do ahead with our sculpture for the RISD Museum.

TTFN - Ta Ta For Now

My parting gift is an image below of a piece I created this evening, but have been thinking about for sometime. It is fabricated with all Heath Ceramics. More to come...


RISD Events & the Importance of Being There

I worked as an intern for a wonderful Jewelry and Metalsmith who graduated from RISD while I was still living in San Francisco. I asked her what she regretted most about the experience because I knew that she loved the school but stayed tucked away in studio much of the time, which in reality is a very easy thing to have happen especially with the rigor of the school. 

She told me that her largest regret was not going to events that happened around campus. She rarely went to openings, gatherings, lectures and theater performances, nor participated with groups and clubs. After hearing this I vowed that if I got into RISD, I would not only jump into those events, but also attend as many events as I could without it interfering too much with my work. 

My rule is that when I go to these events I have to find a poster or flyer from the event, roll it up and keep it in a safe place. Then when I ask myself what the hell else I did beyond classes, I can open the rolls and track where I have been. I will say that currently I have a nice bunch collected and some of these posters are artworks all in and of themselves. 

Here is what I will be into this week for starters. One lecture and also new submissions for a show at the RISD Museum.



Moral of the story here is despite the rigor, there is always time if you make it. Always. And the project won't blow up or be less amazing if you take an hour to go hear someone talk about something other than what you know or have an expertise in. 

Case in point, hearing last year a lecture by Sally Mann and then meeting her afterward. She was AMAZING!!! 


I knew little of photography before meeting her, except that I loved Herb Ritts, Man Ray, Richard Avedon and Robert Mapplethorpe. She inspired me so much. I was so impacted by her that I began a black and white photo class this Wintersession. Below are some of her incredible works.





Pin It!!! And I Ain't Talking Pinterest!

The project that I detailed in the previous posting has been taking on a life of its own. I had so many people respond to my posting asking to participate that it has driven me to extend the project and so I have opened it up more broadly. This does a few things, the least of which is create much more work, but I don't see the problem in that. I have had the pleasure of discovering some incredible details about the lives of people I know and have been brought closer to some that I have not had contact with for a while. This is all win win on my end. 

It is sacred, this exchange of deeply personal information. What could be more personal than sharing intimate details about one's life and then having another individual (me) create an artistic interpretation of that detail and also keeping in mind the personality of the individual and fashion something that is true to them in an artistic format? 

This has moved me so deeply and really has made an impression where I want to begin adding an element of action, or exchange to my work. I am excited by what I am learning about myself and others.

What I will say about this project at this current point is that there are 30 people in all participating. I have fabricated the work of almost half of that group in the last few days. It has taken me longer but that is only due to classes starting for RISD Wintersession, so I am doing what I can with the time allotted. 

With that body of work already crafted I am taking time to house them and send them in a thoughtful and aesthetically pleasing way. I am a believer that the reveal is just as powerful as what is revealed so all is considered here. I have made a series, in that not only are there 30 pieces being made, but I am cataloguing the process by making duplicate works. The person who I am having the exchange with gets one work, and I keep the other. So, in essence this is a double series. A group of 30, and a duplicate of the 30. With the pieces I keep I will note who they went to, where and will create a structure that will house the works. They will be carded on the structure just as you see in the photo below. From there, who knows what twist and turns the project will take.

All I know is there is room for a broader piece here, mapping, communion with friends, etc. I couldn't be more pleased at this point.


Felix Gonzalez-Torres and New Artwork in the Making

A classmate of mine from high school in North Carolina and I ran into each other in the Mission District of San Francisco a decade + after graduation and we chatted for a while. She remembered me giving her earrings many moons ago. I loved and still love making art works for people. For decades I have beaded together earrings or necklaces for others. Generous is what I've been told, almost to a fault at times, but I love sharing. I ask for nothing in return.

Over the years my techniques have become more sophisticated and my projects have moved from beading to fabrication and metal work. I thought I would become a master metalsmith and I still could. Funny how the world redirects you. I discovered that I was working in jewelry only to move into sculpture which frees me from working so very small. I Love Sculpting. Period.

So, after New Years this year I had seen posting on Facebook where friends of mine where creating a craft chain. If you posted to their wall, they would craft something for you and then you had to post it on your wall and make works for your friends. Inspired by this, I decided to make a small line of wearable art that is inspired by the favorite things of ten friends. That number quickly grew as folks wanted to participate. The stipulation was to pay it forward, in any way one wants. Overhear someone who had a bad day in the coffee line, but them a coffee. Have a friend who could really use an outing, take them to a movie. You get the drift. Pay it forward in kindness in the new year.

I have already begun the process of making and I am loving it! It allows me to get to know my friends better and creates a time based operation. All pieces have to ship out in January.

Then it hit me!


Isn't this in a way what Felix Gonzalez-Torres does in many of his works? He breaks down the 3rd wall and reels you in.

Gonzalez-Torres Portrait of Ross

He creates work that begs you to take it with you. The viewer activates the work. We see this again and again. Sharing, performance, collaboration, it's all there!




And then he goes and does this!!!

Gonzalez-Torres "Untitled" (Golden)

One of my favorite works in existence! This is in the SFMoMA's collection and requires the viewer to walk through it.

So what does Gonzalez-Torres have to do with the project I am currently working on?

He has inspired me to push myself to add elements of exchange into my work. This current project is one that is evolving into something so much bigger. My work may change in such a dramatic way because of this.

Exchange, kindness, meeting eye to eye and sharing. These will be key points in the coming works.