Nathan Byrne graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Michigan in 2021, receiving his MFA from Stamps School of Art and Design. He lives and works in Ypsilanti, Michigan and has a cat named Alice. Much of the artist’s multidisciplinary research is informed by a deep interest in the perception of language and space, which is explored through site-specific and archive-based sculptural objects, immersive installation, collage, cyanotype prints and drawings. The work itself becomes a way to reveal and transpose the poetics of archives, found objects, memories and sites into spatial and, at times, transformative encounters. Since 2017, Nathan has collaborated with the musician Emmerich Anklam, aka Distant Reader, who composes scores for some of Byrne’s most notable projects, including his MFA Thesis Exhibition Equally Empty.
“Through spatial interventions, Nathan Byrne materializes, reimagines and explores personal yet universal themes such as emotion, passage of time and contemplation. Intrigued by direct experience and the potential of conveying phenomenal meditative and emotive states through materiality, process and placement, Byrne explores the pliability of the viewer’s encounters with objects and environments. While there is almost always a palpable emotional connection the artist has with the work, it remains partially obscured. The projects are grounded in perception, transformative space and human experience. By making installations and objects which cultivate a heightened awareness of space and self, the work allows for the viewer to enter the space and have their own unique embodied experience.”
Previously the recipient of the VSC Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center and an attendee of numerous other artist residencies, including the Recology A.I.R. Program, Art Ark Gallery, Community Forge and Art and Soul, he will also be in residence at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts in October of 2022. Nathan is thrilled to be a selected as an Artist-in-Residence at Prairie Ronde and is eager to share his work and engage with the Vicksburg, Michigan community.
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