Interview No. VIII
Natalie Tischler
Collector of photos, maker of objects, arranger of words. I first encountered Natalie Tischler’s work via the IG algorithm. I was consuming a lot of ceramics content and came across her profile through a mutual account. Natalie has a hand in many art forms, but seems grounded nonetheless, her work taking shape in semi-brutalist, concrete, and sometimes abstract forms. Natalie’s unique approach to creative practice is a reminder that inspiration is everywhere, even in life’s mundanity — even on street corners.
Hi! Can you give readers a short introduction? And maybe a sentence that describes you?
I’m Natalie, based in New York. "And when I think a word is strange that's where it achieves the meaning. And when I think life is strange that's where life begins.”
What brought you to the city?
I grew up upstate, ~2 hours north of the city. We came down a lot when I was very young. Then when I was in middle/ high school my sister moved to the city and I started spending more and more time here, taking the bus down on weekends and staying with her. Much of my orientation to NY was through her and her life here, which was fun and spontaneous and made me want to be here to experience it for myself. I knew when I left home I would come to the city. So I came here for school.
Ok, so, ceramics + modeling + poetry + digital archival work? Multi-talented!! Can you tell me more about your art? How'd you get into all those different mediums?
Ah! Hm. I would say ceramics was the first art-related thing I was ever seriously interested in. I must have been 7 when I started taking lessons from my neighbor and continued for some years- I still have too many incredibly bad and funny pieces from that time. I picked ceramics back up for a year or two in high school, then again at the beginning of 2023. Photography was the other thing I was interested in throughout high school, then into college. I gained a lot of technical knowledge through it and it influenced my eye for composition, detail, etc. But I guess it has always felt like less of an art form for me and more of a way to capture and document moments I experience. Which I guess is how the “digital archival work” has come to be. There are particular things I find myself interested in and noticing, which I realized I document (very informally) over time, whether that be through photos, writing, sketching, etc.
Right now, most of my interest is spatially focused— design of spaces, furniture, objects and details. I think part of my interest in design and in studying architecture comes from aspects of both ceramics and photography — both are spatial, highly technical, and require working physically/ with your hands. Which is what I love about design, it's both technical/practical and creative. I’m also writing a lot, which is another long-standing practice of mine. I'm really interested in linguistics and in some ways writing feels like an architecture of words… playing with the construction of meaning, sentences, and ideas.
Earlier this year I decided to make a website to have one place where all the different things I’ve done/do can live. So in some ways, it exists as an archive. But it’s also a perpetual work in progress and in that way, it’s a project in itself.
NY Favorites. Favorite restaurant, coffee spot, bar etc??
Uzuki in Greenpoint has incredible soba that’s 100% buckwheat, which is apparently very difficult to make. The chef also makes the ceramics for the restaurant which are super intricate. I’m not loyal to any bar or cafe but in my neighborhood, I go to Prima to do work a lot and Rhodora for the occasional drink. I also don’t shop very often and recently have realized that my style is a combination of basics and things that I’ve collected from other people through various means.
Where do you go to relax?
At home. Or in water.
Or taking a walk.
How did the chair series come about? Tell me about it.
I think it started with one particular chair, actually. A few months ago I saw a chair outside of the bodega near my apartment - it had one arm broken off and a piece of cardboard covering the seat, which was just a hole. It was still there a few days later and someone had put another chair on top of it. I started noticing how many chairs there are on the street and realized I had a collection of photos. Which I became curious about- out of all the things to notice why was I so interested in this particular one?
I love furniture. But I realized it had nothing to do with the design of the chairs and everything to do with them being left on the street. I’m interested in objects but really the way in which people interact with them, how they become integrated into life, even develop lives of their own. Each chair on the street is attached to a particular story of how it ended up there. And each image is the result of a set of particular circumstances- of both object and viewer- that explores how we live with objects. It's a sort of sociological anthology. Now that I’ve been doing it for a few months it’s really interesting to see patterns… I see a lot more chairs at the end/beginning of the month when people are moving, for example.
There’s a lot of joy in it for me as well. I get excited every time I see one because I’m never actually looking and they always sort of happen upon me. I wanted to make it collaborative / open for submissions because it’s fun knowing other people are noticing as well. And there are so many chairs to be seen!
Chair photos from Natalie’s ‘Take A Seat’ series.
Coolest ceramic piece you've made so far?
It's bittersweet.. it was going to be a sconce, part-lamp part-bedside table, but it didn't make it out of the kiln. For many reasons: it was the first large piece I attempted to hand-build and I had made it out of two different clay bodies. This is actually the last piece I "made," back in March, which turned out to be the beginning of an ending to ceramics for me., in a constructive way. I realized I wanted to be making/designing more diverse and potentially larger-scale objects, and that clay may not necessarily be the right material for that- at least not the only material.
Above: The sconce, part-lamp, part-bedside table that didn’t make it out of the kiln.
A piece made by Natalie for her friend, who took this photo.
What's something random you spend a lot of time thinking about?
Things under construction. I walk a lot and the city is good grounds for impermanent “design,” moments that are specific to time and place. My camera roll is full of details from construction sights, things on the sidewalk, zoomed in photos of materials/ textures/etc. Lots of scaffolding. And chairs.
Art you recently consumed that blew you away? Or that you hated?
Yesterday I was telling a friend about an idea I have for a chair and she sent me an amazing reference: 1969 Mies armchair by Archizoom Associati. I’m always struck by tension in/between materials and it’s made of steel and a stretched rubber/latex sheet… I was blown away by the design but also the fact that I had never seen it before!
1969 Mies armchair by Archizoom Associati