Stewart Nachmias creates multi-dimensional cast paper woodcuts that celebrate the energy of urban life in expressionist images drawn from his own experiences as a musician, performer and artist. Nachmias was born in 1958 in the borough of Queens in New York City, and grew up in Franklin Square, Long Island. As a child he began developing his interest in art along with ventriloquism. Introduced to etching in high school, Nachmias went on to major in printmaking at the State University of New York at New Paltz. After studying at New York University, he worked in Bob Blackburnʼs Printmaking Workshop, where he met a wide range of artists. He then helped establish Studio 827, a printmaking atelier located on Union Square in New York.
In the 1990s the artist began the cast paper wood cuts that he continues to create. His deeply carved wood blocks are both inked directly and act as molds for the hand-dyed paper pulp which Nachmias applies to the surface. The result is a print in low relief, with rich color embedded in its dimensional surface. Nachmiasʼs work has grown to encompass images of exuberant musicians, puppet shows, and working men, all recalling aspects of the artistʼs own life playing in bands, performing for children and on the job in printmaking studios. There are works which show in vivid colors the spirit of the individual in an urban environment full of danger and excitement. A recent group of three 36″x 48″ woodcuts focus on the nostalgic charms of Coney Island. And an ongoing series of mandalas, devoted to music, puppets, love, and the creative brain give a sense of sacred completeness to the artistʼs antic vision.
Nachmias has shown his work in many exhibitions, including recent solo shows at the Hardin Center for Cultural Arts (AL), the SPIVA Center for the Arts, (MO), Albany Museum of Art (GA), the Coral Springs Museum of Art (FL), the Wichita Falls Museum of Art (TX,) the Alexandria Museum of Art (LA), Texas A&M University, SUNY Oswego (NY), the Longview Museum of Fine Arts (TX), the Banana Factory (PA), and Long Island University Brooklyn (NY). Group exhibitions include the Watermark Cargo Gallery, Kingston (NY), Susan Teller Gallery, Soho (NYC), MDH Fine Arts, Chelsea (NYC), the DeCordova Museum (MA) and many others. He was recently honored to have been the juror of the 26th Annual September International Art Competition at the Alexandria Museum of Art and at the 53rd Student Invitational Art Competition, Longview Museum of Fine Arts at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts.
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