Go Figure
Nick Stull's work with the human form
Photo: Chris Casella
If you take a stroll through Nick Stull's world, you’ll see everything from a rainbow of colors, to starkly lit scenes in charcoal, to sculpture. The 25-year-old Ohio Wesleyan graduate fell in love with painting when he first started working with color, and his application of it to the human form is the glue binding his diverse portfolio.
"The one thing that holds together is that I usually work with figures or the human form, but that can vary with the context that I put it in: the styles I use, whether it's more realistic or expressive," says Stull. "I experiment with different things, but I really love working with the human form. I just love that connection, or lack there-of, in some cases, and I love thinking of aspects of the human condition, psychological aspects, such as isolation, fragmentation that can be related through the human form."
Stull says his go-to medium is acrylic paint, because it's versatile, and he applies it to the canvas in robust, colorful washes. His work with charcoal is a different story. Often the scenes are shadowy, and the imagery darker and more detached. Stull's sculpture work utilizes many geometric qualities to express these two sides of the coin. Taking inspiration from many types of artists, he once again returns to figure painting to tie the styles and mediums together.
"I really love looking at different figurative painters, especially contemporary ones," he says. "Painting on canvas and using figures is a pretty traditional thing, and I like seeing artists that are keeping it contemporary or using their own techniques and their own ideas to make it interesting."
Stull is a resident artist with 83 Gallery, a local DIY underground art gallery house that specializes in pop-up shows around town, and he will be one of their featured artists during September Gallery Hop.
"It's going to be a mix. There's going to be a lot of portraiture. There's going to be this one figurative scene where there are different people and actually a space that the figures are in. It'll be a combination of things, ranging from things that are going to be a little more realistic to a little more abstract."
– Mark J. Lucas
See for yourself:
Nick Stull's work can be viewed throughout September at De Levee (765-C N High St.) and during Gallery Hop on September 4th at Eleven at Hyde Park (569 N High St.) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. On September 10th, Stull will also be part of an 83 Gallery show at Bristol Bar (132 E Fifth Ave.) from 7 p.m. to midnight. For more details, check out www.83gallery.com.
