Meet Nick Cane | Fiber artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nick Cane and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nick, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think of risk in art like spice in food. Necessary, but dangerous to overdo it.

Art without risk can be vapid. This has its own value, as not everyone wants statement-making pieces everywhere, all the time.

Too much risk on the other hand, causes viewer-fatigue. No one wants to be spoken to all the time. Then you’re just like a Twitter doomscroll personified.

But even the act of being personally transparent in your art is a risk. Be who you are. Show your anger, depression, cynicism, hopes, and whimsy fully and without compromise. That’s actually the biggest risk.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I entered the workforce as a full-time graphic designer, after earning my degree in the same field. The degree and work are obviously easy (it’s an art degree, after all). I got to do what I love and am good at. However in the passing years, the industry demand for full-time design work shifted drastically. Not many company’s need a designer there 24-7, frankly.

Coupled with the worldwide digitization, people like myself who specialized in print were hard up. Eventually, after many odd jobs, I took a job where design was very much a secondhand part of my tasks. For years my artistic side atrophied.

Then, finally, the COVID-19 pandemic happened. At home with no tasks whatsoever, I needed an outlet and began making things. I had never sewn before 2020. I began just dyeing shirts and sewing on patches to mail to friends. This just organically became the simple banners I began with.

From there, everything has just been a slow evolution to where I am today. Just steady growth. Trying to inch further and further into the space where it could be considered art. Where they are something I can fully express myself with.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m from the Washington DC area! It’s a great place to visit during the 3 entire weeks of nice weather we get a year!

First and foremost, the museums in DC are world-class and – more importantly – totally free. The big ones are worth the hype; the Smithsonian Natural History museum, the National Gallery of Art, the African American History museum, and the Smithsonian Air and Space museum.

Some maybe under-the-radar ones I love are the Freer Sackler, which has an amazing multi-cultural Asian collection, and the National Portrait Gallery. You can’t go wrong and can spend days upon days in the museums.

In summer, you must eat crabs. Better done in Baltimore, just a short drive north. But the Chesapeake Bay is famous for crabs. You work really hard to eat not really a lot. It’s a mostly-social affair; crabs, beer, cheap baseball game with friends.

Local things I love are Call Your Mother deli, best bagel sandwiches around (which is opening their first out-of-area shop in Denver of all places soon!). Rose’s Luxury for a kinda upscale, kinda not dinner. Ceremony or Vigilante for coffee, and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream for dessert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Lindsay Falsone Illustration on Instagram (and elsewhere) from Grand Junction, CO. The entire crew at Lovestruck Tattoo from Annapolis, MD.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forum_of_goods/

Image Credits
lol just my wife 🙂