We recently connected with Chloe Scout Nix and have shared our conversation below.

Chloe Scout, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the toughest things about progressing in your creative career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I have been having a hard time as of late grappling with my art practice. I am exploring topics that are very close to myself and navigating complicated emotions tied to certain life experiences or longings that feel at a heightened level right now. I make work because I feel like I have to in order to release these feelings into something physical. It isn’t something I think is fun necessarily, but it is rewarding. It can be an issue sometimes when I get too wrapped up in the feelings and emotions tied into this project. Most of my work is self portraiture based and so the need for me to be present physically can also make things difficult in a whole other way. I have found that in order to keep my sanity during my art making practice I need to separate myself in to person Chloe and Artist Chloe. It is one way I have learned to talk about my work with more ease.

Chloe Scout, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Chloe Scout Nix and I am originally from Waxahachie Texas but currently live in Brooklyn NY. I attending SMU where I got my BFA and minor in Art History, and just recently graduated from Pratt with my MFA in Photography. I am a dancer/performer with 24 years of training under my belt, along with 12 year of teaching experience specializing in Tap Dance. The earliest memories I have of making photographs was when I was five years old and would run around our farm photographing the horses we had with an old Polaroid camera. The first time I took a proper photography class was in community college and I just never stopped after that. My mother is a textile artist and doctor, and my dad is a writer and works for the IRS. Right after graduating from undergrad I started working as an assistant at a contemporary art gallery in Dallas where I worked up until my move to New York.

I am prioritizing my art practice at the moment, trying to ride the momentum and spiraling that has come with surviving graduate school. This is the first time I feel like I am truly living in New York so I am navigating that, trying to utilize the community I built through school whilst finding the courage to mingle and meet new creatives. I am watching as many movies as possible and in the process of writing my second book, whilst also looking for the proper work life balance that I have not mastered as of yet.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding part for being an artist is the relief of expressing myself though my work. It feel like I am getting something off of my chest every time I create a thoughtful work. During my creative process I can get very wrapped up in my own head and life so once I finish something to its fullest extent I feel like I can release those emotions from my brain and start processing them in a whole different way. I find a lot of reward in the fact I can be redundant in my art practice and explore the same topics and emotions in multiple different iterations and approaches.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

So I moved to New York two years ago after living in Texas my whole life. I moved here to pursue graduate school at Pratt and didn’t have any family or friends in the city prior, so I essentially came here and started over. This was a new chapter of my life with the goal to grow in ways that I didn’t feel were possible in Texas. I had become rather stagnate and felt like I was stuck in a rut that I would stay in forever, never achieving things I truly desired. But I moved here and worked on myself and feel like I am progressing in ways that I wasn’t expecting. As far as my work, since I knew nobody here I began photographing myself and now my work in almost exclusively utilizing different modes of self portraiture. That was a huge change for me and think my work and self are better for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chloescoutnix.com
• Instagram: cscout
• Other: Vimeo: vimeo.com/chloescoutnix

Image Credits

Chloe Scout Nix