Lori Nix (born 1969) is an American photographer known for her photographs of handmade dioramas.
Lori Nix | |
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Born | 1969 (age 54–55) Norton, Kansas |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Sculpture, Photography |
Awards | Guggenheim Fellowship |
Early life
editLori Nix was born in Norton, Kansas in 1969.[1] She graduated from Truman State University in 1993.[2] She went on to study photography at the graduate level at Ohio University, and moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1999, where she has lived and worked for almost 20 years.[3]
Artistic practice
editNix considers herself a "faux landscape photographer", and her work is influenced by extreme weather and disaster films.[4] She works without digital manipulation, using miniatures and models to create surreal scenes and landscapes, building dioramas that range from 20 inches to six feet in diameter.[5] They take several months to build, and two to three weeks to photograph. For many years Nix used a large format 8 × 10 film camera[6][7] but in 2015 she started photographing her dioramas with a digital camera. Nix works with Kathleen Gerber, a trained glass artist, constructing most of the scenery by hand from scratch, using "foam and glue and paint and anything else handy."[8] After the final photograph is made, Nix harvests the diorama for pieces for future use and then destroys it.[9][10][11]
Major projects
editPhotography
edit- Empire, 2015–2018. This series is primarily concerned with the exterior spaces of urban structures and landscapes. The detailed photographs show the case of a modern empire after an inexplicable catastrophe: deserted places and half-decayed architectures that are slowly being recaptured by flora and fauna.[12][13]
- The City, 2005–2013. A post-apocalyptic vision wherein Nix explores what it would be like to be one of the last remaining people living in a city, imagining indoor urban scenes.[14]
- Lost, 2003–2004. Nix "subverts the traditions of landscape photography to create her own humorously dark world", examining feelings of isolation and loneliness.[15]
- Some Other Place, 2000–2002. Made after Nix moved to New York in 1999, featured neighborhood sidewalks, city parks, and forays into the wilderness.[5][16]
- Unnatural History, 2009. A series of tiny dioramas of rooms in imaginary museums, partly inspired by New York's American Museum of Natural History.[17][18]
- Accidentally Kansas, 1998–2000. Tornadoes, floods, insect infestations, and other bizarre events that featured during her childhood in the American Midwest.[19]
Video
edit- A City Severed, 2012. A short film that recreates the 1863 New York City draft riots in miniature, produced with Four Story Treehouse.
- The Story of Sushi, 2012. A short film about sustainable sushi in miniature, produced with Four Story Treehouse.
Publications
edit- Contact Sheet 117: The Light Work Annual. Light Work, 2002.
- Contact Sheet 119 Lori Nix: Waiting to Happen, Light Work. Light Work, 2002
- Lori Nix: The City. Decode Books, 2013. With an essay by Barbara Pollack.
- Lori Nix. The Power of Nature. Wienand, 2015. ISBN 978-3-86832-274-3.
Solo exhibitions
edit- 2018: Empire, Galerie Klüser.[20]
- 2017: Empire, ClampArt.[21]
- 2016: Lori Nix: The City, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas.[22]
- 2016: Lost, Galerie Klüser, Munich.[23]
- 2015: The Power of Nature, Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau.[24]
- 2015: Imagined Worlds, Large and Small, Hillstrom Museum of Art, Gustavus Adolphus College.[25]
- 2014: The City, Galerie Klüser.[26]
- 2013: The City, G. Gibson Gallery.[27]
- 2013: More Photographs From The City, ClampArt.[28]
- 2013: Unnatural History, Drexel University's Art of Science Gallery.[29]
- 2012: The City, Bau-Xi Gallery, West Toronto, ON, Canada.[30]
- 2012: The City, Museum of Art, University of Maine, Bangor, Maine.[31]
- 2012: The City, Hamilton Gallery, Salve Regina University, Newport, Rhode Island.[32]
- 2011: Unnatural History and The City, CEPA Gallery, Rochester, New York.[33]
- 2011: The City, Catherine Edelman Gallery.[34]
- 2011: The City, Flippo Gallery, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia.[35]
- 2010: The City, ClampArt.[36]
Collections
editAwards
edit- 2014: Guggenheim Fellowship in the US & Canada Competition for Creative Arts – Photography.[38]
References
edit- ^ a b "Lori Nix | Smithsonian American Art Museum".
- ^ "Lori Nix | Art Department Blog".
- ^ "Behind TIME's Smart Home Cover: Meet Artist Lori Nix".
- ^ "It's like the apocalypse, but smaller". National Geographic Society. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 7, 2017.
- ^ a b "The 'Post-Mankind' Vision of Photographer Lori Nix". Newsweek. February 9, 2015.
- ^ Huffington Post
- ^ F-Stoppers
- ^ "The miniature changes wrought by apocalypse". December 23, 2010.
- ^ Digital Photography
- ^ HomeDSGN
- ^ Fast Co Design
- ^ "New Miniature Post-Apocalyptic Environments by Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber". February 15, 2018.
- ^ "These artists create unbelievably detailed miniature apocalyptic scenes". May 10, 2018.
- ^ "Incredible Photos Show What Post-Apocalyptic America Might Look Like". Business Insider.
- ^ Luminous Lint
- ^ "Dwell".
- ^ "Unnatural History | VQR Online".
- ^ "Dioramas Play up the Unnatural Side of Natural History Museums". April 11, 2014.
- ^ "Light Work Annual". 2000.
- ^ "NIX/GERBER, 26. APRIL – 26. MAI, 2018". Galerie Klüser. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Empire". ClampArt. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ "Lori Nix · The City". Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art.
- ^ "LORI NIX, 03 May – 18 June 2016". Gallery Klueser.
- ^ "Impressum". Museum Schloss Moyland. August 1, 2019.
- ^ Thomas, Matt (February 10, 2015). "Hillstrom Museum to Present New Exhibitions on Feb. 16". Gustavus Adolphus College.
- ^ "Lori Nix – The City | March 20 – May 17, 2014". Galerie Klüser. Archived from the original on March 23, 2014.
- ^ "Lori Nix". G. Gibson Gallery. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "More Photographs from "The City"". ClampArt. October 2013.
- ^ "2013 Exhibits". December 18, 2012.
- ^ "Lori Nix artwork presented by Bau-Xi Gallery Contemporary Fine Art". BauXi Photo. Archived from the original on July 24, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "Lori Nix: The City". University of Maine Museum of Art. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "Lori Nix's acclaimed series, 'The City' on exhibit at Hamilton Gallery". Salve Regina University. March 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 2, 2013.
- ^ "Lori Nix June 25 – August 27, 2011". CEPA Gallery. Buffalo, NY. Summer 2011. Archived from the original on July 2, 2011.
- ^ "Lori Nix". Archived from the original on October 26, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "2011–2012 Cultural Arts & Entertainment Calendar". Randolph–Macon College. November 2011. Archived from the original on October 15, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
- ^ "The City". ClampArt. November 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ "Paradise | All Works | the MFAH Collections".
- ^ Guggenheim Foundation Archived April 15, 2014, at the Wayback Machine