Nico Larsen: SELDOM
2021 Artist-in-Residence at Historic Clark Chateau
How was your experience as an Open AIR Artist-in-Residence?
I had a wonderful time getting to meet other artists here in Missoula as well as the absolutely lovely Butte arts community! Open AIR also made me aware of resources here in Missoula like the Missoula Natural History Center that I am excited to start utilizing for my work in the future. I had really needed this residency to pull myself out of past rhythms in my practice and start experimenting more openly again.
What was your research process during this time?
In the mornings I liked to gather some drawing materials and a notebook and walk down the road to the Clark Chateau. The old mansion has beautiful light in the mornings and was a great place to sit quietly and draw. I stayed at the historical Jacob’s House in Butte which is stocked with an enormous library of books and has many cozy nooks to work in. During the evening I collected piles of books from the house library and my own books from home and mined them for poetic details, metaphors, stories. I had a ton of time alone and so I set up different weaving and drawing projects throughout the house which allowed me to flow from idea to idea as I got restless.
What are you up to now (post Open AIR)?
Since my residency has ended I quit my day job and have been working on being an artist full-time. While I was in Butte I began drawing seriously again for the first time in years and I have continued to draw more than anything else. I just had a baby and that experience has totally shifted my perspective and day to day life. I am nesting and healing now.
Can you talk about the difference between being a maker/director of your own work and being a viewer?
Ideally the work should be an experience. I am not interested in strictly defining for the viewer what that experience should be. When I am working I seldom have a plan for what the piece will be when it is done. I think the biggest difference between the maker and viewer is time. Weaving is an exceptionally slow process and often hundreds of hours will go into a single tapestry. A viewer will approach with their own narratives and symbols which can be entirely new from my own. This is a great opportunity for me to learn from the viewer!
Any new projects in the works?
I have been researching a 1925 essay by Simone Weil about a Grimm fairy tale in which 6 brothers are transformed by a witch into swans. In order to change them back their sister must sew them shirts from flower petals. The work takes her 6 years during which she must remain silent. The power of silent devotion is very interesting to me.
