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About
Artist Statement
Perception and representation are central themes in my work, which has taken the form of contemplative videos with sound, deconstructed portrait-cum-landscapes, and complex digital collage that echo historic European paintings. I am interested in how different visual styles and approaches determine the cultural legibility of specific people, objects, places, and ideas. I am most inspired by the moments in my practice that demonstrate the dynamic fluidity of photography as a medium that offers new ways of looking and understanding. Queer critical theory is also a very important and practical toolkit in my creative research, one that assists in unraveling normative frames-of-reference in photography while weaving new possibilities of how we might author ourselves on our own terms and in our own time.Artist Bio
Nick Simko (he/they) is an artist, educator, and activist. Nick’s photographs, videos, collages, drawings, tapestries, and sculptures have been exhibited at museums and galleries throughout the United States, including The Vizcaya Museum and Gardens, The University of New Mexico Art Museum, The Walters Art Museum, Foto Relevance, and Culture Lab Long Island City. Their studio work has been published in the University of Pittsburgh culture journal, Contemporaneity, and on Strange Fire Collective. In 2019, they were a ONE Archives Foundation LGBTQ research fellow. They are the Chair of the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) Pride Caucus, which serves LGBTQAI2S+ students and faculty nationwide.Nick holds an MFA in Photography from the University of New Mexico and a BFA in Art History, Theory & Criticism from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Nick is Photography Faculty, Photo Area Head, and Applied Photography Certificate Program Coordinator at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and a faculty member of the International Center for Photography in New York; previously he was Assistant Professor of Photography at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.