john nicolai studios:
sculpture & unique
functional objects

I was born and raised in the heart of Trenton, NJ.  After receiving a degree in Fine Art from Lafayette College I continued my education at the School of Visual Art in NYC.  I worked for the Rosa Esman Gallery in NYC;  the New Jersey State Museum;  and the Johnson Atelier and Grounds For Sculpture in Hamilton NJ as an Instructor/Supervisor and Director of Installations for over 14 years before opening John Nicolai Studios in Trenton in 2007. 

"Since I can remember I see beauty and connection in old objects; especially architectural, they speak to me.  I believe people transcend time and place through contact with old objects.  The objects incorporated in my work are borrowed from another time; reclaimed for another use.  My best work attempts to combine traces of minimalist aesthetic with associations of familiarity.  The completed works should evoke a sense of what I call historical futurism.  I want my work to seem as if they were found on an archaeological dig in the distant future.  In ones memory there are imprints of the familiar.  Reinterpreting the elements, images evolve creating unrecognizable nostalgia.  A history of myself, evidence of recreating the past to my ideal."

Using salvaged architectural elements from the mid 1800's- early 1900's in plaster, wood, metal or stone as inspiration;  a concept is developed. A  rubber mold is made, and a cast  wax pattern is created.  This cast wax pattern is then fitted with a gating system,  coated in ceramic shell and ultimately  cast in bronze, aluminum or iron using the ancient lost wax method.  An alternate method I use  is called  sand casting.  This method employs the use of a green/moist  reusable sand into which I press/pound these same salvaged architectural patterns  creating  open face molds to pour molten metal  into.  Whether lost wax or sand cast, these elements are combined via welding.  The finished cast bronze and aluminum pieces are then given a patina and coat of wax.  Nothing short of museum quality  cast bronze, aluminum and iron sculpture or unique functional objects leave my studio.