Today we’d like to introduce you to Max Voss-Nester.
Max, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Some artists find their way into the art word circuitously, but my path was a pretty straight line. I was born in Austin, Texas, and was drawn to art from a very early age. Filling up the margins of my school work with drawings, I honed my skills through constant practice.
Upon graduating high-school I briefly attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, but being an Austinite at heart, I found that New York was too tall, too loud, and too fast for me. I returned to Austin and eventually decided to complete my higher education, graduating with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 2008.
Since then, I’ve been cultivating numerous concurrent interests, as well as experimenting with different artistic styles, mediums, and techniques. Currently, I’m at work on building an art business focused on the beauty of my home town.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
One of my main challenges as an artist is focusing on just a few of my interests. For the past few years, I’ve recommitted myself to really pushing my oil painting skills. I have a few different lines of inquiry I’m taking right now with my work.
Firstly, I’m doing a series of Austin landmarks. Having traveled across the US, I’ve come to appreciate the unique beauty of my home town, and have had a huge amount of fun getting to know it more deeply through my paintings. I have to do a lot of research and photographic work on each location I decide to paint, and I’m getting reacquainted with the city I thought I knew, one place at a time.
My other works are more esoteric in nature, dealing with my interests in various subject like environmentalism and metaphysics, I like to draw from the imagination and explore some of the fascinating ideas floating around out there. I’m currently working on a series of geometric paintings rendering the classical Greek idea of the Platonic solids.
I tend to do a lot of research for my work. I have a passion for learning and hope to share that with my audience. If I can make someone take a moment of pause in their busy day and stoke some curiosity about the wider world, I’ve done my job.
Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
That’s a great question. I think it’s a mixed bag. On the one hand, the internet has made it easier than ever before to connect with people, share your work, and market yourself as an individual. On the other hand, it can be tough as an independent entrepreneur in covering all the costs of living. Most artists and musicians can’t make enough of their work to do it exclusively.
As far as helping creatives, there are a lot of great options. Access to professional development is important. Many artists don’t know much about running a business, and those skills aren’t generally taught in art school. Another practical concern is access to affordable healthcare. Austin has a great program for working musicians, but it would be great to see that expanded to other creatives. Lastly, it’s important to have public spaces for people to go appreciate art. It gives opportunities to the artists to share their work as well as the public to get inspired.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I’m currently displaying three of my favorite pieces in the “People’s Gallery” at City Hall in downtown Austin. There’s a bunch of amazing art there to check out (and the architecture is cool too).
The best way to see my work is online at MaxVoss-Nester.com or to look me up on Instagram at Instagram.com/max.vossnester.
You can purchase originals and prints at my website, and I take commissions upon request.
Contact Info:
- Website: maxvoss-nester.com
- Email: max.vossnester@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/max.vossnester
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artbymaxvossnester/
Image Credit:
Max Voss-Nester
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