I try to rid myself of preconceived notions to the greatest extent that I can. Since my mind will inevitably push me toward memory, or convention, I in return focus on finding a series of happy accidents. A solid mixture of intention and abandon are necessary to create something new. If my mind reaches a point where it can no longer think of where to go and hits a singularity, I take advantage of this moment by waiting for some other mood to emerge. Sometimes it hits in the middle of the night and I have to get up, turn on the pot, and start splashing molten wax onto a work I have not touched in weeks.
How do you see the relationship between emotional and intellectual perception of your work? In particular, how much do you consider the immersive nature of the viewing experience?
The work is alive. It has a lifespan, and it should be treated as a living object. Most artists I see that work with beeswax use heat guns to flatten out the wax, giving them more control over the figurative and textural elements in their works. For me, the beauty of wax lies exactly in its difference from other mediums. Celebrate the porosity of wax, its temporality, its fickle and moldable nature. When allowed to be porous, to sweat just enough in the heat to almost melt and only shift, the wax takes on a visceral character. It becomes flesh; it becomes plant; it becomes something new again and again. I want the work to breathe into the viewer and force them to recognize it as something that, very much like them, will come and go. Every series of paintings I work on are informed by both the visceral elements of wax I adore and the literature and critical theory I am studying. Through the beauty of literature and from thinkers like Derrida, Nietzsche, Cendrars, Benjamin, Rabelais, Klein, and so forth, my perception of self, time, and art are always changing. As that happens so do the questions I confront when faced with a new living painting. My painting, affected by my own reading, then affects what I read and vice versa. It is a wonderful carousel.
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Nathan. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
Thank you for your consideration and interest! My future projects I intend to invoke on a grand scale. The larger the work, the more and more it seems to become some kind of deity in my mind, demanding my attention and recognition of its existence. I see these giant works going up in flames as I dance over their ashes and celebrate the carnivalesque, the morals flipping upside down on their heads, the smiling mask of death and finality in dismay. In the future my paintings will burn.