Winter festivities are a celebration of life and death. However, beyond the surface packaging of Christmas and other seasonal practices, we are celebrating (perhaps mourning) the death of the sun. The duality of this confusion is the guide for this body of work. Drawing inspiration from Christmas, Yule, Chanukah, Mithraism, Paganism, Winter etc. “Yellow Snow” attempts to decode the true "reason for the season" through double entendre and conspiracy theories.
“The flexibility in the meaning of a form, and the flexibility of the use of an object was something else I found myself coming back to over and over again through the making of these ceramic objects. The form of the sun appearing as a yellow snow ball is consistent through many of the pieces. Table top lamps dual function as inkwells that accentuate duality of the light and dark. A spicy nativity scene asks the viewer is this naughty or nice? A decorated chimney bong depicts a scene of good versus evil. The Eucharist (Blood and Body of Christ) are transmuted into Santa's of milk and cookies. Ultimately these works ride and often fall off of the thin line between craft, kitsch and artifact. I hope that people decide to make them part of their own holiday celebration and confuse their much more normal and well adjusted family members.”
Nick Norman is an artist based in Philadelphia. He creates drawings and ceramics informed by personal narratives, humorous observations, and "bad ideas." Norman's work has been recently shown at OKP store in Tokyo, Japan; High Tide and Kamihira in Philadelphia, PA; Melanie Flood projects in Portland, OR; Harpy Gallery in Rutherford, NJ; and Picture Room and Enorme in NYC. He also recently contributed to the comics anthology Happiness, and is working on a vegan cookbook with IFIAAR.
Dec 7th 2019