Nika Feldman
Garment Centric Interdisciplinary Artist
Roses Are Sometimes Blue
When All There Is To Do Is Love
Kriah And The Hungry Ghosts
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Santa Fe, NM
Statement
As a garment-centric interdisciplinary artist, my practice is defined by intentional and methodical acts of unmaking, be it through repetitive cutting, ripping, or deconstruction. I use salvaged clothes, which act as both subject and medium to address issues of impermanence, grief, identity, and transformation. Furthermore, my work is contextualized through three concepts I have constructed: sartorial sabotage, schmatte prowess, and feminist chutzpah, all of which locate my practice within a framework based on my gender, socioeconomic background, and Jewish cultural heritage. As an artist, I position myself as an activator and mediator. In doing so, the role of art and the artist are redefined to be verb-based rather than noun-based. In this way, my practice references actions taken such as casting spells or performances of prayer, thus eliminating the polemic role of the viewer from completing the work. Instead, art is understood as an engagement between the artist and the material, each possessing their own agency in relation to one another. As such, art is the process of shifting energies that occurs during the act of making or unmaking, rather than the more common association with the completed object.
Bio
Nika Feldman has a 20+ year-long professional practice and has exhibited nationally and internationally. Feldman’s work has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts (‘03, ‘04, ‘11, ‘15), Arts Nova Scotia (‘16), Ontario Arts Council (‘05), Ontario Craft Council (‘05), and the Vermont Arts Council (‘03). Feldman was featured as a cover story in American Craft magazine (Aug/Sep 2016), was a recipient of the Japanese Monbugakusho Fellowship at Kyoto City University of Arts (‘07-’09), and was a Craft Studio Resident (‘03-’05) at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. Feldman holds an MFA (‘23) and a BA (‘21) from the Institute of American Indian Arts and a BFA (‘02) from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University.
Media
2-D, 3-D, Collage/Mixed Media, Fiber Arts, Installation, Painting (all materials), Performance, Sculpture
