Nate Hester

Lives and works in Hesters Store, NC

Artist statement

Nate Hester explores the psychopolitical dynamics of public and private space mostly in the American South through a practice rooted in the theater of the absurd, anti-racist rhetoric and family systems theory. To that end, Hester crafts a surreal, happily haunted dreamlike ecosystem starring a lonely girl and a cadre of monster dolls to reflect on social fragmentation and reintegration that is at once playful, wounded and brave. As a Southerner who grew up in the aftermath of the repeal of the Jim Crow era, Hester poses a deceptively simple question in this age of creeping authoritarianism, digital noise and ecological crisis: Can we all live together? Hester has participated in international residencies at Studio Kura (Fukoka, Japan), Chateau Orquevaux (Chaumont, France), Kolaj Institute (New Orleans LA), Residency Unlimited (Brooklyn NY), and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (Amherst VA). His work has been shown at Satellite New York, MARFA Invitational, the Brown Gallery at Duke University, Galeria Azur (Miami FL), Cabada Contemporary (Washington DC), Knowhere (Martha’s Vineyard) and Brassworks (Portland OR) and is held in the permanent collections of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University and the New York Public Library. When not building silly, shamanic worlds, Hester enjoys fresh fruit pies around a campfire and the occasional spa day at a luxury hotel.

Artwork