Happy New Year! 2015 was an exciting year in the studio. From international publications featuring my typewritten portraits to traveling to vastly different regions in the United States for artist residencies, here is a recap of the year in studio news!
- My website had record numbers of visitors this year—thanks for visiting! International press introduced my work to people from all over the world. Highlights include: Women You Should Know, "Artist Creates Portraits Of Modern Women On A Manual Typewriter With Historic Feminist Texts"; TheToronto Star, “Traditional artist uses typewriter to peck out portraits,” ; My Modern Met, “Images of Contemporary Women Revealed through Textual Portraits,”; The Record, “It’s written on her face,”; and, in languages I cannot read such as this feature from N’olmuş? In Turkey.
- Thames and Hudson published The Art of Typewriting, featuring work from the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, in October. I am honored to have work included in the Sackner Archive and to be included in The Art of Typewriting. In this authoritative publication, the founders of the Sackner Archive of Visual and Concrete Poetry, the largest such collection in the world, apply their experience, mining the collection they have created over four decades to present examples produced by more than 200 of the world’s finest typewriter artists.
- Another exciting publication, The International Drawing Annual 9, included my piece Neli (Anzaldúa 1987). This survey of contemporary drawing is available for purchase through Manifest Press and includes 116 works by 82 artists from 30 states, Washington D.C., and 7 countries including South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, France, England, Canada, and the United States.
- Artist Residencies were an exciting part of the year for my studio work. You can see pictures and read about my time as an NEA Studio Grant recipient on WSW's blog, "My Dear Sister: Leslie Nichols in the Studio." I loved working in their letterpress studios and interacting with the community of resident artists, interns, and staff for six weeks this fall. The Hudson Valley, where the workshop is located, is famously beautiful in the fall, and it did not disappoint. In addition to the productive and inspired studio time, I was able to hike around the workshop and in the Catskills and Gunks.
- I spent the month of April in another stunning environment—Zion National Park! As Artist-in-Residence for the park, I stayed in the historic Grotto cabin and spent my time exploring the park environment while learning about the history and people. The work of my residency focused on the social and historical relationship of people and the park. You can see my visual depictions of people that "make" Zion National Park on my website. While I was in residence, I gave two public lectures, one at the Canyon Community Center in Springdale, Utah and one at Southern Utah Universities in St George, Utah.
- In conjunction with my two residencies my work is included in two more public collections, in the archives at Women’s Studio Workshop and the Museum of Zion National Park. These public collections were complemented by acquisitions of 18 pieces to private collections. Thank you all for your support of my work!
- 2015 included two solo shows of my work. My exhibition in the highly trafficked Corridor Gallery at Western Kentucky University generated many conversations at the university and the intimate gallery at Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York was perfect for viewing my text-based pieces.
- Including the 2 solo shows, I exhibited work in 12 shows in 2015. Group exhibition highlights include The Writing on the Wall at The Painting Center in New York City and Women in Art: Herstory at LH Horton Jr Gallery on the campus of San Joaquin Delta College in Sockton, California. I am currently seeking relationships with commercial galleries and I exhibited work in group shows at David Lusk Gallery in both Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee. My work is currently represented at Ellis Walker Gallery in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where I exhibited in the 12 by 12 exhibition. Additional exhibition venues included the Downing Museum, the Kentucky Museum, and the Eichold Gallery on the campus of Spring Hill College.
- I continue to make an effort to stay connected through social media and you can “like” my Facebook page, "follow" @lesnicholsart on Twitter, and "follow" @leslienicholsart on Instagram.
Thank you for your support of my studio practice this year! I am looking forward the New Year and hope you stay tuned for some exciting news to start 2016.
Leslie Nichols
Leslie Nichols printing "My Dear Sister" at Women's Studio Workshop
