our next artist up for the q & a series is the figurative artist nathaniel rogers. nate was born in charlottesville, virginia and received a b.a. in studio art from davidson college. after getting his m.f.a in painting from the maryland institute of art, nate returned to davidson as a visiting professor teaching drawing and painting as well as art theory. he currently teaches art at the cannon school in concord, nc. his paintings are filled with people he knows well including his family and friends. there is an intimacy in the paintings not only reflected in the subjects but the viewer get a feel for the artist as well. for nate’s new group of paintings entitled all that feels he has focused on the role of emojis in society specifically how emotions have been transformed into symbols created to evoke a range of curated feelings. the paintings delve deep into this complex notion with the actual size of the paintings including the iphone influenced frame mimicking the size of a iphone 7 plus in an otterbox. the overall effect is mesmerizing. what blows our mind is the amount of work and complex thought placed into such small scale work is hard to grasp. we are in 😲!
heart 2020, oil on panel, 20 x 9 inches
hidell brooks will be going instagram live from nate’s studio tomorrow (5/14) at 5 pm to see a preview of the new paintings and do a short q & a. also we are excited to start a new series on insta inside the studio on tuesdays. please follow along on instagram to keep up to date. we will start off next tuesday with one of our all time favs north carolina artist herb jackson to check in and get a sneak peek of paintings for his solo exhibition spring 2021 at hidell brooks.
give us a bit of your life backstory?
i grew up in Charlottesville VA. i was always interested in making art from a young age, but actually studied math as a student in college. a little over halfway through my college career i decided to shift gears and followed my passion. i still use that side of my brain all the time in my work. i love systems. i’m systematic and i solve the issues in my paintings one variable at a time.
burnt sienna underpainting is the first layer
what does the process of making art mean to you?
making art is how i work through my thoughts. it’s how i process the world around me. the process of painting is meditative for me. i live for the flow of diving deep into rendering a nose or small section of road. if i have a bad day or need to unwind, painting all those small details levels me out.
inside nate’s north carolina studio
grimace 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
what are your go to materials?
oil paint. it’s the best. tiny kolinsky sable brushes, my favorite are 5/0 escoda brushes out of barcelona. 4 mm long, and just excellent..
zany 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
mask 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
what is the typical studio day like for you?
my studio work is alternately focused palette work figuring out the color for the painting and then painstakingly resolving the piece. for the smaller pieces in this show, i might mix as few as 50 colors on the palette for the final layer of resolve. larger works typically have a few hundred. i’ll spend hours and hours working up the tight level of resolve. on the small scale misplaced brush marks don’t work, so everything needs to be just so.
frown 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
what led you down the path of creativity? we are always intrigued by childhood memories?
i always loved drawing, but what i have always loved most is being lost in the process. i never really believed that i could hack it as an artist, but i had some incredible professors in college that convinced me i could do it. i had some incredible classes with herb jackson, and i credit him with my studio practice. he taught me what being it takes to make great work and how to be fully dedicated to your craft. i wouldn’t have become an artist without herb.
tongue 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
one of the aspects of an artist that we find so fascinating is their visual voice and how over time it is shaped and formed…tell us how your found your style?
my style grew out of my graduate work. my early work was large – often life-size or larger. when i was in school, those paintings took forever to create and i felt like i wasn’t learning anything, because i wasn’t finishing much. i slowly began to make smaller and smaller work and then it became a game: how small can i make these paintings? once i settled on the scale with which i currently work, i began to get really interested in the response that the work received. i love the intimacy of small work, the way in beckons the viewer in. it also takes over the visual field in the same way that the large scale work does.
crying 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
heart eyes 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
share with us your favorite painting and why?
the milkmaid by vermeer is one of my absolute faves. his marks are perfect as is the color. she has this awesome farmers tan on her left arm that just glows. it’s totally unexpected. it’s also one of vermeer’s more minimal paintings. the bare walls are perfectly distressed and there are just enough details to make the whole image come together. brilliant!
the milkmaid (1657-1658) by johannes vermeer
eye roll 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
pleading 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
mind blown 2020, oil on panel, 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches
all available work by nathaniel rogers can be viewed on our website under the artist page under his individual tab. click on the nathaniel’s name to bring up all work with sizing and pricing. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.