Nathaniel J. Bice
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Nathaniel J. Bice is a painter whose works encourage their viewer to celebrate the beauty in their daily environments. His artistic practice stems from the desire to explore the human experience through belongings, environments, and homes. He uses still life to bring both his queer community and his identity as a trans artist into his art practice. His Objects of Queerness series is a new take on the tradition of still life painting; he asks the subjects to provide belongings that are emblematic of their queer identities. Objects chosen in historical still life paintings had symbolic meanings relating to death, religion, or wealth. Nathaniel is using the modern lexicon of queer identity to have a conversation about cultural significance in the community.
His plein air gouache paintings bring up precious memories for people whose lives have been touched by these places. Any place he chooses to paint has a story, which often comes out as people stop to talk with him; someone has proposed there, or spent time with their kids there, or their favorite funny story happened there. His physical presence gives a sense of life to the architecture and spaces that he paints.
Nathaniel regularly shows paintings at STUDIO Gallery and has participated in exhibitions all over the Bay Area, including Gearbox Gallery, the Falkirk Cultural Center, and Anälog gallery. He has murals at Sour Cherry Comics and Tala Wine, and he also works in theater as an assistant to scenic designer Nina Ball and as a scenic painter.
