Alexander Nesbitt’s art making career falls roughly into three segments. First, inspired by his study of 3-D forms, the sculptural collage works took shape, shortly after his time at Pratt Institute. Then, falling headfirst into photography, and dedicating the time to hone his shooting skills, Nesbitt found success with years of travel and documentary shooting. The classic single frame images from this time (and growing everyday with current image selects) form his largest body of fine art work. These images are available printed as traditional archival paper prints in limited editions and on other substrates as one-of-a-kind pieces.
Most recently, Nesbitt has dreamed of ways to merge the two styles of work together. Initially with the invention of his photo blocks, and more recently with the formulation and technique of creating hand-coated metal prints.
Hand Coated Metal prints
Nesbitt’s return to working with rigid panels has lead to taking control of the photo surface again, but this time with single frames rather than an assemblage. This new body of work utilizes techniques drawn from his experience in printing and art reproduction. To create the painted effect, a special undercoating is applied by hand to an aluminum panel. Taking his technical printing prowess one step further, he has built a flatbed modified printer to run these rigid panels through. As the process only allows for one to be made at a time, each piece is truly one-of-a-kind. He is happy to produce these as commissions, and limited pieces are available in the Newport gallery.
Sculptural Photo Pieces
Truly a marriage of sculpture and photography, these three dimensional works rely on forethought, ingenuity and vision. Each work is comprised of a series of images shot at varying angles, that are later pieced together to form one art piece. The finished artwork arcs toward the viewer and stands proud of the wall. Each individual panel is created from one photo frame. The photographs are treated with epoxy before being mounted to the rigid panel. Not shying away from scale, many of these pieces are upwards of 7′ in one direction.
Below is a 6′ x 9′ foot art piece on epoxy coated panels. First exhibited in a solo fine art show at the Newport Art Museum Ilgenfritz gallery in 2003, it is now available at the studio / Blink Gallery The image depicts a mysterious view of the largely unknown “Redoubt” at Fort Adams in Newport.
