Constant Contradiction
by Abraham Storer via The Provincetown Independent
Nick Fagan stitches oppositions together in his textile artworks
Nick Fagan in his studio at the Fine Arts Work Center. Photo: Agata Storer
“The sculpture offers an experience of comfort — a more embodied extension of Fagan’s other artworks that evoke feelings of comfort through the use of materials like used clothing, crocheted blankets, and sleeping bags.
Fagan, a second-year visual art fellow at FAWC, grew up in Virginia and began drawing early in life. “I had a very, very hard time trying to express myself through writing or even verbally,” said Fagan in a 2025 interview in Material Works Art. Fagan, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and severe dyslexia as a child, expressed his emotions through drawing, often using cartoon characters to convey feelings.
Fagan continues to use cartoons this way. In his first FAWC fellowship in 2021-2022, he created a sculpture of the cartoon cat Garfield lying down. Made with wood and auto paint, the form mimics a black line drawing. There’s both an element of play in Fagan’s use of this familiar figure and a sense of exhaustion in the gesture of the collapsed cat.”
