Painter Nicole Eisenman, 2015 MacArthur Fellow

anything inspires me there's not a museum in the world I can't walk into and find something utterly magical my name is Nicole Eisenman and I'm a painter and sculptor I draw from the world around me what I know I pull my friends and family into my paintings sometimes I paint the world as I want it to be I paint the figure because I know the world through my body and I understand my desires and my anxieties through my body and the desires and anxieties of our culture I think the body can hold so much it can be a site for just exploring the paint in or it can hold metaphorical and allegorical meanings it's just wide open eye to great-aunts who are painters and I grew up in a house full of their art that's what I wanted to do that's always what I've wanted to do I get excited by the material by the color by the paint brushes by the little beautiful tubes of paint that feels so precious I love the visceral quality of painting of like the connection between my eye my hand the paint the canvas and if that happens that transference happens that's magic I think the external world filters in to my work and all the themes are in there because I'm taking everything in politics and history and my personal life and my feelings I have no clue really what's going to happen in any given work even if I do a preparatory sketch and I have some idea of what the thing is going to look like it's a skeleton and you have no clue what what the qualities of the piece are going to be yeah maybe hanging off this one it's always a surprise I'm I'm always amazed at how little I know until I get to the end of a painting or a sculpture when I got the call from the MacArthur I was in a supermarket it was just another day and then everything shifts everything changes you get struck by lightning I think the fellowship gives me an extra boost of confidence just to go forth and do what I've been trying to do my whole life but with the vote of confidence with from my peers which just feels it feels amazing

Channel: macfound

Views: 38,158

Rating: 4.9178081 out of 5

Keywords: Nicole Eisenman, MacArthur Fellowship (Award Category), Artist (Project Role), Painting (Visual Art Form), Sculpture (Visual Art Form)

Id: 390v9Cfi2Lk

Length: 3min 5sec (185 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 28 2015