Where Are They Now?

The Daily Palette often features art from the Graduate Archive to celebrate exemplary work by students who have earned advanced degrees in studio art from the University of Iowa. "Where Are They Now?" gives us the exciting opportunity to catch up with some of these artists, to find out what they have been up to since leaving school and to feature their more contemporary work! Look for links to their previous appearance on The Daily Palette below.

NICHOLAS HILL
Kyoto Triptych I, Cyanotype and drawing, Each panel is 22" x 60", 2007-08

     Prof. Nicholas Hill earned an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa, where he studied with Joe Patrick, Mauricio Lasansky, and Keith Achepohl. Now he is Prof. of Art at Otterbein College, where he chaired the art department for ten years and led the establishment of the Frank Museum of Art and the development of an art studio facility.
     Widely exhibited, Nicholas is represented by Printworks Gallery in Chicago. He has exhibited his work in over 200 juried and invitational exhibitions in the United States and abroad. His work is represented in such public collections as the U.S. Library of Congress, the New-York Historical Society, the United States Department of State and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. He is also represented in public and private collections in Germany, Denmark, India, England, Ireland, Austria and Chile.
     In 2016, Nicholas was granted residencies at the New York Art Students League's  Vytlacil and at Casaplan Cultural Center in Valparaiso, Chile. He will return to Casaplan in the summer of 2017 for a solo exhibition of new work that is informed by his Chilean experiences.

In his own words:

     The series entitled "Kyoto Calligraphy Lessons" began with an exploration of mark-making using the photographic medium of cyanotype. The work is inspired by images from a calligraphy lesson book that I found in a used bookstore in Kyoto, Japan. I began the series by pouring the liquid medium on paper. The physical gestures of tilting and folding each piece of paper and watching the liquid medium flow became my calligraphic response, my drawing. Once "drawn," I exposed the light-sensitive paper to the sun using transparencies, often layering one on top of another. The images in the transparencies are photographs that I made in Japan and found photographic images that I altered.
     I find myself revisiting the juxtaposition of found or accidental marks and intentional image-making as an on-going practice of associations. The resulting images create new visual dialogues as they are positioned in varying combinations and numbers. The combination of two, three, five or more "panels" references Japanese screen, and as such, offers new narrative associations within the smaller groupings.
     The "Kyoto Calligraphy Lessons" continue. I have revisited the theme for a several years, finding ways to articulate subtle changes with the passage of time.

Earlier appearance on The Daily Palette

Nicholas Hill online