Chris Nitsche. This is me.

Christopher Nitsche, Visual Artist at work in the studio…

I was born in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and raised north of Chicago, Illinois. I graduated from Northern Illinois University with a BFA, majoring in Painting and Drawing. During my undergraduate studies, I took elective classes in sculpture, studying with Bruce White, who became an excellent mentor. I recall the moment when I resolved my first sculpture project, that the world changed, and sculpture would become my true artistic pursuit.

I completed a MA at Northern Illinois, where my sculptural interests turned to installation building. I continued to pursue installation-making at the University of New Mexico, graduating with a MFA in 1990. My wife, Melanie, and I married in 1992.

My first work surrounding a ship form was in 1993, in a gallery installation. In 1995, I began a concentrated exploration of ships as an artistic concept and metaphor through installations, sculptures, drawings and paintings. Bear in mind, I was doing this work in the high desert mountains of western New Mexico, about 7000 feet above sea-level. This allowed me to pursue conceptual ideas detaching the ship form from literal associations and locations.

We settled in Denver, Colorado late in 1995. There I found opportunities through art centers, artist-run galleries, college and university galleries and museums to construct ship installations out of recycled construction and household materials. Paralleling the installation work was a steady stream of mixed-media sculptures and drawings. In 1999, my daughter Sophia was born.

In 2002, we moved to New Hampshire where I accepted a teaching position as Sculpture Professor at Keene State College. Sculpture-making and drawing became the main focus of my work, though I took advantage of several installation building opportunities. There I perfected my found object obsessed sculptures.

In 2006, we settled in Savannah, Georgia where I am a Professor of Foundation Studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design. I’m building installations, making sculptures and drawings, and having a great time.