This is the second installment of the I’m Fine artist interview series.  

Nicole Osborne || MFA at GWU ’18 || Exhibiting in I’m Fine from June 5th through July 28th, 2017 at The Stamp Gallery || University of Maryland, College Park || Interview by Christopher Bugtong

Let’s start with some background information about you. Where are you from, and what first got you into art?

I was born and raised in Gatlinburg Tennessee. I have been creating art since I could remember. I grew up within the 15 mile stretch of the Arts and Crafts community where my parents owned a shop. For as long as my mother could remember she could sit me in a corner with a sketchbook and I would be satisfied for hours.

What drove you to pursue a degree in studio art?

I knew that creating art was something that I would be doing for the rest of my life and so when I was told I had to go to college I chose the Fine Arts. Wanting to further my craft and learn more about modern and contemporary art while being in a creative community much like what I had grown up within was just instinctual for myself.

I understand that previous installations of 611 Timber Ridge RD, Gatlinburg TN 37738 have included your live performance. Has the use of prerecorded audio for the duration of this exhibition altered your perception or expression of this piece?

My first experimentation with this instillation had a performance component. The Audio is a way for myself as well as my mother to be present with the viewer. I couldn’t be there in person for the social interaction of the piece and am using the audio as my substitution as well as an instrument of bringing the viewer even further into those moments in time.

Your works in this show all invite the viewing public to participate in the artistic process. How does interactivity involve itself in your conception of these pieces, and in your artistic process in general?

I am a tactile person and am constantly being yelled at in museums for getting too close to the fine art pieces. I enjoy participating with a piece and breaking the rule of “hands-off” while in gallery and museum spaces. These pieces invite the viewers to participate or donate their own pieces of work to an ever growing representation of our societies either through the instillation of the work or the social media spaces where they can even post their interaction with the pieces if they so choose.

While working this show, I’ve noticed that visitors of all ages—from children to the elderly—take the time to participate in So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper. Is this a surprising observation, or did you intend for those works to have a more timeless appeal?

It is really funny to think about these pieces. I had a visiting professor who was determined not to interact with these and stated that he did not like them “AT ALL”. I see it as an opportunity for the viewer to break a norm within a gallery space and invites them to be a part of a piece of artwork. I am thrilled with how well received the pieces were while being a part of this show and I plan on taking whatever pieces of donated artwork along with the piece so that it will continue to grow with time along with us.

Is there any significance to the figure depicted in So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper?

Yes. The figure is meant to be neutral in aspect so that the viewer can allow their own interpretation of society to be placed onto the other figure. It is interesting to see the results of the interactions of colors and how I allow them to tell me whether the figure is male or female, happy or sad, and so on. It is somewhat disturbing and enjoyable to see how these figures come through in the black and white Xerox copies that are placed on the wall. While sitting in the school chair, I feel the pressure to conform to societal norms intensify. These other figures in black and white pressure me to conform, representing all of those rules of coloring inside the line instilled by the teachers from the public school system screaming in my head and the effort I put in to fight against the invisible hold it has on me. The feeling when I open the binder and realize that I am not alone in this is comforting, especially after the pressure of the chair.

How do you see your pieces in relationship with the other works and overall theme of the I’m Fine exhibition?

I feel that the curators did an excellent job of placement. 611 Timber Ridge RD, Gatlinburg TN 37738 is both a cathartic work that is a representation of something that is lost and a way of healing while being more in the current moments of my life. It interacts well with the other pieces in the show, which I feel are cathartic in process for many artists and invite the viewer to rest for a moment. So We Color and Classification of Other on Paper are examples of the pressures that are placed on us during our everyday submergence into society and the comfort of knowing that we are not alone in this process. I believe that many of the pieces in the show are some kind of commentary of society or are a cathartic process that helps the artist to cope with the emotional onslaught of loss or disturbing revelations within our society.

Any future plans for your work and yourself? Works in progress? Upcoming exhibitions?

I am currently with the MFA program at George Washington University. I am expanding more on the Other Series and the Wall Flower Series. My thesis exhibition will be focused around the Other Series. I am continuing to enter the Other Series into shows all over but If you follow me on any of my social medias @Ozzyarts I will post when and where the next installations will be.

Before we go, is there anything you would like to highlight about your work or the show as a whole?

I really appreciate the opportunity I was given and the great results of the curators of this exhibition. As for my work I am eternally in a constant struggle against the instilled social norms that I find suffocating whenever I hear the voices in my head. This series will continue for as long as I feel uncomfortable within my surrounding standards, and I do not see those going away any time soon.

For more information on I’M FINE and related events, visit thestamp.umd.edu/stamp_gallery.