On the Rhodes with Joel Nichols

Hi everyone and welcome back to the Artilogue. Today I'm chatting with Joel Nichols, a recent graduate from the University of Manitoba and a current student at the University of Oxford. As a Rhodes Scholar, his work tackles topics pertaining to identity, queer theory, bodily autonomy and the soul. Born in Birmingham, england, and of biracial Jamaican descent, joel connects various themes within his work, many stemming back to his roots. The divisional nature of Joel's identity inspires him to create work that is approachable to differing communities, in hopes that people can begin to understand each other. Joel's practice incorporates ceramics, drawing, painting and printmaking. Joel, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me.

Can you describe your practice?

I'd say I have an interdisciplinary practice. I work in lots of different mediums and I like how they interact with one another, so I think that'd probably be the best word to describe it.

yeah, Can you tell me more about the mediums that you're working in, just for someone who's unfamiliar with your work?

Definitely so. One of my primary mediums would be ceramics. I do oil painting. I'm currently working on mixing the two together into a single piece. I work in printmaking and I do woodturning.

When did you know that you wanted to be an artist?

hard one, I'd say. I've been surrounded by art my whole life. However, I didn't actually see that as my own path. I started my uni in a completely different direction and then took one elective, and I think from there the path was just laid out for me.

Yeah, what was the class that made you change course?

I took intro drawing with Alana McDougall.

Yeah, that class is fantastic. So you were interested in science and potentially even going to medical school when you started your degree and then you took this drawing class. That kind of changed everything for you when you're at now. Do you see your interest in science and medicine entering into your practice?

Oh, 100%. I definitely say there was a time period when I first started art and I changed my degree, where it felt very separated. However, when I started ceramics, the whole chemistry portion of my science degree came right back in, because when you're mixing clays, mixing glazes, using chemistry to see how they'd react together, it is all done in a lab with the same kind of equations and balancing that I did in science. So it was a really happy coincidence that they fit in so well.

That's fantastic. And how did going to the School of Art at the University of Manitoba affect your practice?

I'd definitely say it opened what I thought was possible. Interacting with so many students and master's students, I feel like I've been influenced by a lot of people, whether it's through medium or through style or through technique, or just through conversations that I've had in passing with people that have inspired me to create artwork about different subjects. I think it's just a place that's really fostered those connections and those relationships.

And you recently completed a residency at the BAM Center. Can you tell me more about what that was like and what you accomplished there?

My gosh, that was incredible. I don't think I quite have the words to describe how amazing of an experience that was, but first of all, it's stunning. The studio I was in was like the most incredible place you could imagine. I had floor to ceiling windows on two walls facing the mountains. I was on higher so I had a great view and the studio was huge. It was the size of three of my honors degree studios I had in my undergraduate degree and the people were just amazing. There were artists from all over Canada, all across America and the world, some people there from Berlin, la, even from another one from Manitoba. But it's been. It was incredible. I really don't have the words to describe it. I made some amazing connections and made some great friends as well.

Yeah, what did you work on while you were there?

I made four really large ceramic vessels using a Honggi style of creation which I learned from Professor Grace Han from the University of Manitoba. It's traditionally used in Korean ceramics to make fermentation vessels for things like kimchi, and I actually made more than four. However, I had a lot of disasters. For example, I stepped away from the wheel after finishing a piece it was completely finished, it was taller than I was and I stepped on the pedal and it I, so that was the first one I made while I was there, so it really set me off on a good foot about letting go and just enjoying the process and being there to learn.

Yeah, that's fantastic. How are you feeling about your art career now that you've graduated?

time. However, being an artist includes so many different jobs. It's not just creating the work, it's selling the work, it's marketing it, it's making the right connections, going to openings, being social, and it's difficult. It is difficult and I think I can see myself continuing my practice for the rest of my life, purely because I can't see well, I don't really want an altar and so on. Make it a bit of the other. But it is very difficult, especially having come from a environment such as the U of M school of art, where your main focus is just creating art and being surrounded by people who are so supportive of that and who are doing the same. It's very daunting, I'd say.

Yeah. Do you have any expectations or paths that you want to follow?

Part of me would love to get back into education after I've finished my master's degree. I'd love to teach art. I love the balance that our professors at the School of Art seem to have between teaching and their own personal practice, their art practice. I like that sense of built-in unity that they seem to have.

Yeah, also the financial stability. Yeah, that's definitely a plus. Do you think at all about moving into a commercial space, or are you thinking purely education or kind of whatever comes your way?

And it was incredibly difficult for me. I got it done. However, it didn't bring me joy, I'd say, doing the selling of my work at markets and things like that. It was great interacting with the people, but it also came with an awful lot of stress which I didn't enjoy.

Do you find that working within the commercial space as an artist has been stifling for your creative process? Definitely.

I am the type of person that likes to make what I like to make when I like to make it. And as soon as you step into the commercial space, the consumer becomes so apparent in your work they start dictating what you think you should be making because, oh, what will sell? And I think that can be very problematic. In the sense, I think that artists, we have to find a balance that we're comfortable in. Artists, we have to find a balance that we're comfortable with some people some people that means make what the consumer wants and just finding that joy in the creation process. And for others it means making what the heck they want when they want to make it, and hopefully someone comes along who likes it. And I think I fall more into the second, without having realized it at first.

Yeah, so we talked a little bit about your heading off to get your master's degree and I wanted you to tell me a bit more about the Rhodes Scholarship and what you're planning on studying.

So the Rhodes Scholarship was a huge surprise. I applied because why not? You miss all the shots you don't take, but at no point did I have any expectations of actually getting it. It was a wild shot. But I'm going there now to study an MFA, so Master of Fine Arts, and an MST in Art History and History of Visual Culture. So I'll be doing two master's degrees in a period of two years.

Wow, that's incredible. It's so exciting that you're heading out to Oxford. What was the application process like for the Rhodes Scholarship?

It was intense for the Rhodes Scholarship it was intense. The first round of application went to the University of Manitoba and they chose six people. So for that we had to write two different essays, have a minimum of six references that were a page long, and then I feel like I'm missing something.

Yeah, okay, it doesn't have to be a how-to guide.

They have the internet basically they picked six and then from there they put those forward for all of the prairies and all of the prairies and all of the territories. Basically, a committee of previous scholars hit 12 and those 12, from across the prairies and the territories, all come together for an in-person interview, which was incredibly nerve-wracking. It was this tape, long table full of Rhodes scholars and there was a chair and they asked you question after question and very intense questions, I should say. And then from there they pick three that go. So I was very lucky to be one of the three that they chose.

Yeah, fantastic. What have been some highlights for you as an artist so far?

I'd definitely say UK's already banned, but I think community that was crafted there was so positive. As an artist and to the creative process, I don't think I've ever quite been surrounded by so many beautiful people who really just loved art and were there and supported each other through all of it. It was beautiful. It was a beautiful experience and I made a series of work that I'm really happy with.

Yeah, what have been some tougher moments for you as an artist and how did you overcome them?

I'd say it's probably two instances. One we've covered already would be the step into the consumer, step into the commercial art world, and what that means to me as an artist and what I valued and finding myself in that and what I'm comfortable with. So it was definitely difficult, but I think that was just the only way to get through. That is, to do it and test your limits and see where you are comfortable. And then the other one would probably be deciding what to create At any one point in time.

I have so many things I want to be doing that I struggle sometimes to pick one and run with it, rather than to start like 80 different projects and never finish anything. However, I think that's been not so mediated by actually valuing my art a little bit more. Mediated by actually valuing my art a little bit more because I think, from having a background in ceramics, I have this I don't quite know the word for it but I don't value my artwork as something so precious in the sense that if something doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world. I'll just I let it go very easily. However, at the same time, I'm starting to learn that that can be a bad thing sometimes, and sometimes you have to sit with your mistakes and see what you can learn from them. So I've been learning I'm still in the process of learning this but to sit with the piece after it hasn't gone exactly as planned and see what it can teach me yeah, yeah, do you have a favorite piece that you've ever made?

I don't know I have. I like pieces for different reasons. I'd say the latest one I've made means an awful lot to me, just because of how far it's come it. It's one I've made for the University of Manitoba's Idea Start Space that's opening in potentially March, I'm not quite sure. However, that piece was one I made in Banff and then drove 14 and a half hours back to Winnipeg and then spent the last month and a half painting. So I think just the journey that's been on with me means a lot to me. So that one for sure.

But then the second piece would have to be my honors year graduate exhibition, the floating spheres, so it's all body and soul or vessels of the soul specifically for that one, and it consisted of over a hundred I'd say closer to two ceramic spheres made of porcelain that were pit fired. And it was the first piece of art that I'd made me feel like the viewer I'm not the artist sitting amongst it. I felt almost I felt connected into to the piece beyond its structural and functional aspects, which I find I don't always feel my art. I hyper rationalize or overthink my work constantly. However, it's rare for me to just sit there and be there on such a deep level, and that piece definitely did that.

What was the inspiration behind that one that came from?

a lot of places, but it was a deep reflection on what it meant to exist, and I think people's view of the body as a vessel for the soul really minimize the body's power in our lives, and as someone who is marginalized in different ways, I've really lived in my body like it's affected how people have treated me, how I've been seen and that applies for everyone. What we look like, how we present ourselves, affects who we become purely because of how we're treated, and therefore I think our bodies have great autonomy and power over who we are as a person and who are souls. So I wanted to make a piece that lifted up the body and celebrated it in the way that the soul is normally portrayed in art.

Yeah, absolutely. What's one piece of advice you'd give someone looking to become an artist? Just?

create. Don't wait for some divine inspiration to make a mark on paper or craft something else of clay. Just keep making things. It doesn't matter if they're objectively or subjectively good. Like all, art has a place in the art world, whether you like it or the next person likes it. There is someone who will enjoy it or hate it, and maybe that's worth something, you know. Just create if you feel like you need to or want to just make something how do you see your art practice evolving in the future?

I'd say the master's degree is definitely going to influence my practice because I won't be able to do ceramics while I'm there and ceramics has become such a huge pivotal point in my practice that it's going to be interesting to find myself and what kind of artist I am. Without it, I'd still say I'll be interdisciplinary. I'll still be touching on the same kind of topics. However, it will be different and I'll be interested to see how I grow from that.

Absolutely, Joel. Thank you so much for being on the Artilogue today. It's been so lovely chatting with you. Thank you so much for having me. All the best of luck. Next week You're moving to Oxford Very exciting.

Thank you.