Nicholas Brown

Often referring to specific places or environments, the work of Nicholas Brown is primarily driven by his examination of the nature of drawing-both its intimacy and directness. His site-specific installation, Room 1036, is titled after the hospital room where the artist’s father stayed last year. Using the bed sheets from his father’s stay, Brown cut out images of the hospital bed, I.V. drip, and doorway, representing the room to exact scale. Brown makes illness the basis of a dialogue between the transitory nature of life and the passage of time, which is underscored by the sound of ocean waves. Throughout his work, Brown has consistently explored our perception of time and memory. The simplicity of the materials belies the complexity of the work. Room 1036 hovers somewhere between a two-dimensional and three-dimensional object; it is simultaneously drawing and sculpture, and it questions the primacy of each medium within the work.

—Sylvia Chivaratanond