ArtKeeper Update: Nicholas Tossmann Checks In
This week we’re checking in with Nicholas Tossmann to find out a little more about his work.
Nicholas uses text to investigate the existential capacity of curiosity. His site specific installations, sculptures and video performances ask the viewer to put into question themselves and their own perspective.
Check in with Nicholas below.
A little bit from Nicholas Tossmann
Your Challenge: Summarise the start of your art career in 10 words or less.
NT: I make art to engage with curiosity and the absurd.
Your ArtKeeper project involves creating a sculptural body of work as well as a sound installation. How are the two projects related?
NT: I am interested in ways we can contemplate the expansiveness and existential nature of the question ‘why’ with both of these methods of making work, providing alternate ways to understand and interact with this provocation.
Nicholas Tossman, _belief meaning_. Image courtesy of the artist.
Nicholas Tossman, _Why ask questions with no answers_. Image courtesy of the artist.
Nicholas Tossman, _absurdself_. Image courtesy of the artist.
Both your 2D and sculptural works often use text as a key feature. What is driving the use of text in your practice?
NT: Text provides me with a way to make complex and intangible ideas tangible, allowing viewers to physically and spacially relate and understand concepts in ways we might not have considered.
Which part of HOTA’s ArtKeeper program excites you the most?
NT: I am really excited by the opportunity to develop work in an environment where I am surrounded by art and other artists over a long duration.