Studio visit: Nate Braunfeld

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Nate Braunfeld in his International District studio in Seattle this week.  Nate is midstride in completing several projects for upcoming exhibitions* and in documenting his work before moving out of his studio (and out of the Northwest), but I was able to catch him before everything was packed up and shipped out.

Here are some images of Nate in his studio with projects new and old:

Nate Braunfeld in his studio

Nate's workbench with parts of the 'Triangulation' series

In his work, Nate condenses, collapses and implodes landscapes.  He is interested in real data points—be it the specific topography of the Puget Sound basin or panoramic views as observed from particular peaks in the North Cascades.  Nate is intrigued by the idea that we seek out these places, in solitude, to have transformative experiences that connect us to things greater than ourselves.  At the same time, he is a bit cynical at the idea of seeking out—of pursuing—such an experience.  In restructuring the landscape, Nate’s work requires viewers to reconsider and redefine their relationship to space and to place and to the universe.  At times Nate’s work puts you at the center of it all and dwarves you by packing in an impossible density of information about the landscape that surrounds you.  In other works, he shrinks and condenses space and time in ways that make you feel particularly large, but moved to consider the details of a landscape shrunk so small that you peer into it, as though staring into a crystal ball.

For To Be Alone Together Nate will be creating work in dialogue with a large Paul Horiuchi collage.  At the time of our visit, Nate was very much entrenched in considering how to respond to the Horiuchi piece.  He is compelled by the work’s atmospheric quality—in the way in which it speaks to a soft, misty light and by the absence of any figure or horizon line within the work.  Nate has given himself a couple of parameters: fog and photography.  Both wrestle with light, one in its dispersal, the second in its capture.  He is mid-stride in generating methods in which to capture light as it is dispersed.

In the past, Nate has used photography as a component in his sculptural works, but seldom does he ask his photographs standalone.  He wonders if just taking a photograph is too easy?  For this new work, Nate is posing for himself the challenge of how to make a photograph be enough on its own, rather than as one of many elements in a sculpture.  Is there a way to multiply or to distill the image or to alter the basic photographic materials and imagery to their essence in a way that moves beyond a snapshot or a traditional landscape image?   When does a photograph become more than a record of an event, an expression or a place?

Nate shared with me a range of artists and artistic approaches that are influencing his thoughts and his process for this new piece along with the Horiuchi collage. 

Here are a few:

David Hockney, Christopher Isherwood Talking to Bob Holman, 

Santa Monica, collage of chromogenic prints on board, 1983 

Michael Wesely, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2004

Robert Smithson, A Non Site, Franklin, New Jersey, 1968

Chris Engman, Three Moments, 2009

I asked Nate whether he considered himself to be a Northwest artist?  Yes.  And for him, our particular landscape of tall mountain peaks and the mistiness of our weather have given him an appreciation for and a curiosity about sightlines—about what we can see and from where and under which weather conditions.  Much of Nate’s work relies on collapsing and expanding sightlines, allowing the viewer to see and to comprehend more at once than they would otherwise be able to see.

Here is a sneak peeks at some of Nate’s latest work:

Dimensions: 33" x 17" x 14"

Dimensions: 28" x 18" x 50" 

Finally, I asked Nate whether he had to pick one: alone or together?  Alone.

*In addition to seeing Nate’s new work at the MoNA October 4^th, 2014 – January 4, 2015, as part of To Be Alone Together, you can see more of his work at the following exhibitions:

Bellwether 2014

Bellevue, WA

6/28/14-10/12/14

Pilchuck Eair Exhibition

Method Gallery

Seattle, WA

10/17/14- 11/29/14

Innovation

Schack Art Center

Everett, WA
10/9/14-11/8/14


You can also find out more about Nate and his artwork on his website:  www.nathanbraunfeld.com