Artist Biography
Nick Rosin is an engraver, metalsmith, illustrator, and educator drawn to incorporate his sense of humor into his work. Influenced by satire, cartoons, and wordplay, Nick aims to animate his objects through the meeting of high craft and low brow. Inspired by the craftsmanship of medieval art objects and their exaggerated depictions of ritual and daily life, Nick explores an updated vision of what we as society might deem as precious today. Through crafting his brass and sterling silver embellished recognizable forms, Nick’s illustrative engraving comments on societies approach to language, social media, religion, addiction, sex, and convenience.
Receiving his BFA in Jewellery and Metal Design from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 2014, Nick continued his metalsmithing studio practice in Halifax as an artist and hand-engraver. Joining the Mary E Black Gallery and NS Center for Craft in 2017, he has held positions as Gallery Coordinator, studio technician, workshop instructor, and multiple time Artist in Residency. In 2024 Nick earned his MFA in Studio Art with concentration in Metal at the State University of New York at New Paltz where he also held positions of teaching assistant, teacher of record, and Assistant Preparator at the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art.
Over the years, Nick has taught engraving and jewelry workshops at NSCAD University, NS Center for Craft, Brooklyn Metalworks, and Snow Farm: New England Craft Program. Nick currently lives in New York City where he continues his practice and artistic career as the Pratt Institute Jewelry Studio Technician.
Exhibition Statement
"When thinking of a dedicated time of rest, I instinctively think of the phenomenon of sabbath and am reminded of my self-humoring juvenile experiences as I attended church on Sundays. This also recalls the saying “idle hands are the devil’s playthings.”
If idle hands are considered the devil’s playthings, the objects I craft would ornament its brimstone toy chest. Inspired by the escapes of my delinquent daydreams and my current skills as a metalsmith, I now redesign these ceremonial objects for use on an idle Sunday filled with adult vices and “mature” content. This “mature content” explores drugs, sex, alcohol, cellphone usage, self-pleasuring, and other ways of letting off steam, or in this case, gas. (Go Farts!) Pairing high craft with a low brow and tongue in cheek, I aim to ritualize these acts of mental freedom and disengagement as a playful remedy to the inherent burnout that accompanies the “productivity” of capitalism.
Sunday Funnies is a body of hand engraved jewelry and metalwork that aims to validate the urge to disconnect from the daily grind and work culture that we have become so accustomed to as a society. By reimagining religious ceremonial objects and the iconography that typically adorns their surface, I use humor to invite viewers to reflect and reassess the way they might spend their Sundays. The content of my metalcraft honors the restorative type of “productivity” that exists within the self-indulgence of a day off – such as finding comfort in being naked, basking in positive screen time, getting high, pouring a stiff drink, or floating in a daydream as opposed to spending it wrapped up in trying to get ahead and staying busy."
PLEASE NOTE
This exhibition is rated PG-13 for content referencing drugs, alcohol, and sexuality. Some material may not be appropriate for viewers under 13. Parental guidance is advised.
Acknowledgments
Published ©2021 by the Centre for Craft Nova Scotia All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photography courtesy of the artist unless otherwise stated.