We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nikki Blair a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nikki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I knew from a young age I wanted to be some sort of artist. My mother passed away when I was very young. As a result, I was raised by my father who was a professional sign painter. He owned his own shop and my younger brother and I spent loads of time there. He would often roll out large sheets of paper for us to draw and paint with. These large sheets of paper functioned as a babysitter for us.

Nikki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I took a lot of art classes in high school and knew I wanted to focus on art in college. I went to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville for my undergraduate work. It was the closest school to my home and somewhat affordable. I put myself through school working at a small butcher shop which paid decent but by no means was glamourous. My focus was photography and ceramics. The ceramics program was very strong with great professors that I am still in contact with thirty years later. I continued my graduate work at Ohio University again a very strong program in regards to my professors and peers. This was an unforgettable experience that very much changed my life. During graduate school I was encouraged to teach classes which I absolutely did not want to do. I simply did not have the confidence at the time. After a few classes I really enjoyed teaching and slowly gained the courage to get up in front of a lot of people. This experience paved the way for my future career. After graduate school I had two opportunities one of which was a residency at the Archie Bray Foundation and the other was a sabbatical replacement at Northern Kentucky University. I wanted to do the residency but I was broke as a joke and decided on the sabbatical replacement for a year. This would be the first time i was running the program teaching all levels of ceramics and maintaining the studio. I gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience during this time. After that year of teaching I was hired as a tenure track professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where I have been teaching now for 22 years. As teaching has taken up much of my time through out the years I have always managed to maintain a continuous studio practice. I have exhibited in various national and international venues and participated in a few residencies here and there. My work harks back to the shiny bright futurism of post WWII architecture and product design. That period’s most forward thinking designers created a world full of fantastical curves, extravagant rooflines, beautiful colors, and innovative materials. Plastics, glass, neon employed in both kitsch and high art became integral to the design language of America in particular, but resonated internationally and are still admired today. With that undercurrent, I have returned to exploring pure design elements —line, form, color– in the guise of the vessel. These pieces are functional in theory, but what someone would put in them is another question entirely and that is an interesting question to me. The forms are off-kilter, constructed from slabs that are patchworked together. They rest, albeit a bit sullenly, on display surfaces. The pieces “sit” in ways that are gestural and suggestive. They are vaguely inflated or deflated. They have bodily qualities that refer back to my earlier work, much of which alluded to medical or sexual devices. In their pure formalism though, they are much slyer. I strive to seduce the viewer with their attractiveness, and then, upon closer study, reveal sophisticated awkwardnesses. They are pieces of baggage. Containers for flowers. Perhaps these are forms in which to temporarily put our psychological burdens while we enjoy looking at them. I am currently preparing work for the Dallas Pottery invitational that will take place in April and working with Shape Theory Collective which is a group of artists working towards prison reform.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the issue of time is a big one. It takes a lot of time to create. Through thinking, sketching, making, process, experimenting it takes an enormous amount of time. So when people question the cost of an artwork it can be frustrating as I try to make my work affordable. I want the work to go into peoples homes so they can enjoy the work. I feel many artists pay themselves very little in regards to the time that is involved.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

One of the greatest resources is Artaxis.org.

Contact Info:

• Website: nikkiblair.com
• Instagram: nikkiblairceramics
• Facebook: nikki blair

Image Credits
Vanderveen Photographers