Nicki Stager

This multi-disciplined artist sheds some light on how she combines painting and photography to create pieces that are both delicate and emotional

By Tara Lombardo
Published: January 5th, 2006 | 10:52am

It is almost impossible to view Nicki Stager’s work and not feel compelled to have some kind of dialogue with it. Her methodology of working on the border between the disciplines of painting and photography are simply the impetus for this conversation. The prints alone draw you in visually and emotionally, but soon your brain demands you attempt to make sense of their birth. Represented by Hasted Hunt Gallery in NYC, Nicki reveals how she paints with light.

Your work is strikingly visual but also has this unexplainable element of emotion attached to it.
I have a strong interest in the overlapping and intertwining that occurs when we taste, smell, view, hear, or touch something; so it makes sense that some of this would come across as I create art.

What is your process when creating a piece?
I started making this type of photograph with a plate of copper about 12"x15" in length in which I had poked a tiny hole in the center. As my interest grew in photography, I lost interest in capturing a complete image and my natural instinct to draw kicked in. I figured if I could direct light the way I control a pencil or paintbrush, I would be able to make drawings with colored light. Eventually, I was making little 3" x 3" photograms. 4 years later they’re still the same size, but they’re made in editions of 3 and 5 at 12" x 12" and 30" x 30" and are called C-prints. Although the process involves digitally enlarging the original image, the final image is again made by exposing light sensitive paper. What interests me most about the photograph is its perfectly clean, pure, and real pigment. Beyond that, my toolbox and the atmosphere of the darkroom lure me. Every time I open up my tools I look at all the color and the strange objects and just smile for a while. What used to consist of an easel, a copper plate, and a box of color photo paper has expanded into an array of objects that manipulate [colored] light in ways I never could have imagined. I love the idea of a space so dark that the only thing you can see is a tiny light changing colors, appearing and disappearing against a variety of tools seemingly hanging in space.

Would you describe yourself as a photographer, painter, or both?
I’m delighted to be either, but I love it when someone declares that I’m a photographer and then a close friend, without prompting, corrects them by saying that I’m an artist who paints with light.

You mentioned that your original plan for your pieces was to explore light defined by line, space, form, and color, but that your work started to move beyond that. How do you feel your work has evolved?
The work is more refined. Few people would notice, but things that used to be mistakes that would pass as formal qualities aren’t there anymore. I found new tools and figured out how to make things look more like I intended them even though they are still a little unpredictable. The colors are more purposeful and the forms have evolved to create a greater sense of depth.

Who or what influences your art?
The work has evolved almost completely because of the different influences that surround my work. I tend to spend more and more time looking at work and deciding what I like and what I dislike in order to make more purposeful decisions in my own artwork. I have favorites like Richard Tuttle, Harry Callahan, and Sandy Skoglund, but then I’ll meet someone like Emil Lucas and suddenly I love stripes. Next thing I know I’m listening to Kaki King or Sigur Rós and I want nothing but subtle, yet spontaneous mark-making all over the place. Then the I’ll be at a demolition derby and the car I’ve chosen has the number 83 marked in bold green letters on its side and when I go into the darkroom all I want to do is make chaos with green. Everything and everyone has impact. I try to listen carefully and express myself as I take in what others have to say about artwork in general and about my work. What they say sheds light on what I see in my own work and has a significant impact on what actually makes its way into the world. The rest wait patiently in a box in my studio waiting for someone to shed light on them.

To see more of Nicki’s work, visit hastedhunt.com or nickistager.com.

Nicki Stager's photo is courtesy of Theresa Decker