“Three Skins & a Shirt (Spikeball)”

Nate’s earliest memories of working with wood are of building skate ramps in his father’s garage - cutting stolen 2x4s with a miter saw in his bare feet on hot summer days. After a brief stint in advertising and branding, Nate returned to woodworking by adapting his visual sensibilities to the woodcut printmaking method. He developed his own non-traditional method of creating blocks by using scroll saws, table saws, and drill presses rather than traditional hand gauges. As a result, his blocks are created as puzzle pieces which are often recut and rearranged to live on as new editions and sculptural reliefs. While his work in printmaking may suggest a rudimentary, simplified graphic language, the complexity of his constructions represent both his talents as a craftsman and his understanding of how to convey emotion through color, material and composition. Nate’s work is often influenced by process, material exploration, observations of shape and color, repetition, and personal narrative.

This work depicts four figures playing spikeball. The surface is textural and there is a slight variation of depth resulting in a sculptural relief feature. The piece features a combination of oil on wood and exposed wood along with White Oak framing throughout.