Nick Maltagliati
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(510) 691-0473
My practice investigates our relationship to the Earth and the animism we have neglected because of trivial pursuits. By creating surrealistic landscapes, I inconspicuously display a personal side where mountains resemble racial identity, abstraction mapping how we grapple with mental health, and color for sexuality and energy. I collect visual data, as well as ephemera, of my surroundings to compose and craft twisted realities with jolting color. I also infuse art history because what became before us is important.
I have evolved my practice as of late introducing videos, tile and grout work, experimentation of expanding cement, and increased sculptural-based installation. I have a strong kinship with the California landscape by being in Boy Scouts growing up. Nature is heavily prevalent as a symbol for my father; he is an avid gardener and horticulturist. Our fraught relationship is symbolized by the flora in my work. My color use also represents my mama and her Mexican heritage. Other themes in my oeuvre include environmental justice, a surrealistic take of the ambivalence energies from working in a restaurant, and employing my interpretation of mysticism through free-flowing movement.
