Nathan Vernau

by Ariel Radock

Fill In The Blank Gallery: Your work is often saturated with varying hues of red and blue. 3-D glasses use these two colors, accompanied by altered images, to create the perception of an additional dimension.  What is the purpose of concentrating specifically on red and blue? What dimensional persona is being created?

Nathan Vernau: I started using pinks and blues once I finally started making, what I consider to be, good work. I was dealing with a lot of issues concerning masculinity, and used these colors to address those themes. I became very comfortable with this color palette, and over time it has progressed to brighter and more vibrant hues, and I began using more shades of red. I have become more and more interested with the visual disruption that can happen with certain color combinations. With each drawing I make I have been paying attention to how colored pencils react with each other and with the paper. There are early stages with certain drawings where it can really mess with my vision to look for too long at the surface. I want to grab people’s attention, and I try to utilize the color of the work to do just that.

I suppose the persona that is displayed is of an inner-dimensional type. I would hate to say that what you see on the paper is what I see in my mind, because that’s not quite how it works (and it sounds somewhat cliché). But it certainly comes from a place that can’t be physically explored until it is put down on the paper. It’s a persona that communicates visually rather than verbally.

FIB: As humans we all encounter numerous emotional, physical, and psychological transitions. What is the most recent transition you have experienced and how does that affect your work?

Nathan Vernau: The work that forms the series you are referencing, “Transitions,” was all about trying to figure out my next step after completing graduate school. I had invested so much time and effort to improve on my artwork, that I kept putting that next move out of sight and out of mind. Once it was there I didn’t quite know what to do. I sort of drifted around town, only working part time, hanging out with friends who were still in school, and tried to make some decisions. During all of this I was literally working it all out on paper, detailing the feeling with lots of water imagery and figures that were sightless.

The most recent transition is moving to Chicago. I had lived in Wisconsin my entire life before moving here in August. Despite having yet to find a reliable job, the move has gone fairly smoothly. I have friends down here, family just outside of the city, and I’m comfortable at the moment. That’s not to say there aren’t any drastic changes. Chicago is easily the biggest city I’ve ever lived in and I’m still adjusting to living in an urban environment. I’m used to being able to literally go a few miles and walk into a forest if I really want to. And I think I’ve seen more rats than squirrels since I’ve been here, which is new to me.

Moving to Chicago will certainly affect my work. Right now the drawings I have been making since I set up my studio have continued from the series I have been working on since mid-summer. However, I know the surroundings and people I am near to now have a definite affect on my moods and feelings and this will become more and more evident once I start to look back at the drawings I am making right now. Every series of work I make is spurred by transitions of some kind. Each change that happens in my life inevitably affects me and my personal experiences.

FIB: The psychological theory of Structuralism primarily focuses on the deconstruction of our subconsciousness to manifest itself into real experiences. Do you believe an artist can adequately transition imagination into a representational form?

Nathan Vernau: Yes. However, it is incredibly hard to do well. To describe something from your imagination into words, sounds, images, or movement takes a lot of practice, investigation, and failure. You have to do it in a way that captivates both you and the viewer. That might just be the ultimate goal for me with my artwork.

FIB: Cowboys, long johns, googly eyes, cinderblocks, and chainsaws frequently emerge within your work. Do you use humor as a device to attract a viewer’s attention? What meaning do these symbols represent?

Nathan Vernau: Absolutely. I certainly want to get people’s attention, and I think that’s what anyone who works in an artistic field wants. Much of the content that goes into the drawings is filled with anxiety and stress and frustration that I have to use humor as a way to balance that negativity. Using a lot of those symbols you mention is a way to represent ideas about ideal masculinity, stability, or maturity, and the way I often frame them is ridiculous or absurd. Humor is interesting to me, because it often has more behind it than just wanting to get attention or make people laugh.

There are some very specific reasons for the placement of those symbols at times, reasons that are only going to be evident to me. But there are also meanings that are meant to be universal, or perhaps broader to the viewer, to help them relate to what I am putting across with the imagery. Using humor is a great way to spark conversations with an audience, especially if they aren’t people who are typically interested in art.

FIB: The incorporation of text into a painting or drawing is a conscious decision by the artist to enhance or alter the narration of a piece. Bruce Nauman’s drawings are a good example of the rearrangement and playfulness with words. What prompted you to include text and what significance does this union have for you?

Nathan Vernau: I suppose curiosity prompted me to use text at one point, but it is also about adding another layer of communication (or sometimes miscommunication) to the work. I’m fascinated by the range of interpretations that can happen with just one word or phrase that’s included in a drawing. One of my favorite drawings has the phrase “rad dum” stenciled along the top. It was just a simple play on the words “red rum” from The Shining. I’d just made this drawing that I thought was amazing, but also kind of ridiculous, yet it was missing something. It added this clue for the viewer as to what direction they could go. My titles often do the same, but people don’t always see them – they’ll refer to the text or whatever is happening in the drawing rather than some long, drawn-out line that sounds like it’s from a poem. The text acts like the chorus of a catchy song – they help people remember them later on.

Quite a few of the phrases included in my drawings are actually from songs. I’m often moved by the emotional response that lyrics can have on me, and there have been more than a couple moments where I’ve been listening to a song while I’m working on a drawing, and it just lines up perfectly. I’ve been writing a lot of songs in the last year, as well, and I’ve noticed that lyrics and phrases are intermingling in my notebooks now. I attempt to communicate my experience or feelings, in one way or another. What I try to do is simplify these complex emotions, but sometimes I end up complicating things that may be simple. The text often plays a role in this.

FIB: Which is more important to you: The processes of creating art or would you prefer the satisfaction of the finished product?

Nathan Vernau: I would say they are both incredibly important, although it does feel damn good to finish a drawing and experience that exact word you used: satisfaction. I love the feeling of progress, and more specifically, to see that progress made at the end of a drawing. But at the same time, going through the process of creating is crucial to figuring things out. There are drawings I work on that sit for a while before I can do anything more, but it’s absolutely necessary to have that struggle.

This is something I’m experiencing at the moment. I’ve just finished a drawing that has gone more or less in the sequence of a familiar routine of completion. While it is done, it still is missing something. It drives me nuts. Even with a “recipe” I have figured out to make a really good drawing, it doesn’t work out all the time. There are little mistakes that can still be made, because I can get too sloppy. Or I work too fast. Or I think I’m being clever. I think I’ve just convinced myself that I wouldn’t be satisfied with the finished product if it weren’t for all the processes that go along with creating art. I would be worried if it felt too easy.

FIB: Are there any specific themes you wish to work with or portray in the future?

Nathan Vernau: I have ideas that float around on the back-burner for quite a while before they ever get implemented, so there’s always something there. I’d like to work on a series of portraits of my family and friends eventually, but that keeps getting pushed back. I’m always interested in framing my work around past art movements and current popular culture, so I try to keep my eyes peeled and ears open for captivating ideas. I’m sure whatever I use will reflect my current state of mind. The decay of the human body might be something I pursue next. I’ve been feeling the effects of age in the morning recently, and that has been creeping in some of the last few drawings.

Nathan Vernau was born, raised, and educated in the great state of Wisconsin. He is the only one of his siblings to not be born during a snowstorm. Not too long after earning his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he moved to Chicago. He is not so much interested in fame and fortune as he is in comfort and security. In his spare time he can be found sitting with poor posture. Vernau's work can be found on the cover of the current issue of New American Paintings http://nathanvernau.blogspot.com/