Brooklyn artist Nathan Lee Pickett creates scene-stealing cut-paper and mixed-media compositions. His work possesses such explosive energy that Brooklyn Street Art called the “pretty chaos” of his first solo exhibition a revelation that left the blogger “kind of stupefied.”
Pickett achieves his effect by mischievously inviting contradictions to coexist within his work that he defies any impulse to resolve thematically. His process is a celebration of the freedom to explore chaos without any need to order it, and the improvisational feel present in many of his pieces derives from his roots in street art.
Pickett enlisted in the US Army in order to finance his education, and after serving for four years he enrolled at Parsons The New School of Design in 2002. At that time he was a street artist who had witnessed far more of the world than most Americans his age. By the time he earned his BFA with honors in Illustration, he was assisting artist Doze Green and refining his talent for creating visually dissonant compositions through the meticulous stencil and lace techniques that are becoming his signature.
Pickett’s work has been exhibited all over New York, in solo and group exhibitions; on walls everywhere; and in illustrations for forthcoming cookbook Amor Y Tacos.
For the future, Pickett continues to embrace opportunities to show his work in New York, but he’s also looking to extend his reach beyond his Brooklyn backyard, and in 2010 he has begun to create an entirely new body of work which he hopes to show in cities such as Los Angeles and Amsterdam.
He is currently watching too many Kiyoshi Kurosawa movies, hanging out with bad kids, and eating tacos. His website is www.nathanpickett.com.
