Nathan Florsheim is an artist and educator based in Cleveland, OH.
His practice investigates how photography can function as a tool for reconnection within the context of the urban landscape and his family’s history. He interacts with abandoned sites and activates them through the rubbing of photographic chromogenic and gelatin silver paper as a method of capturing a physical recording. Florsheim’s work addresses the ways we forget and choose to ignore human-made spaces once they become vacant, or at least until become monetarily valuable, a symptom of a collective amnesia that separates us from our impact on the places we inhabit.
His interest in excavating forgotten histories is also demonstrated by sorting through his family's collection of photos and collapsing moments from their lives into cohesive compositions through collage. This process of activating these memories becomes a collaboration with those who took the photographs, whether that be a family member or someone unknown. Florsheim’s collages explore the intricacies of a family history and reveal the individuality of each member's own life. Families and relationships evolve over time, and this is directly represented by the transformative process of tearing these photos apart and gluing them back together.
Group exhibitions include: The Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL; Happy Gallery, Chicago, IL; 062 Gallery, Chicago, IL; Filter Photo, Chicago; Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, and the SAIC Columbus Building, Chicago. His series Artefactual was published in the 45th issue of the UK Journal, Antennae in 2018. He was a co-curator of Circumambulation at ACRE Projects in 2018.
Nathan received his BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2019. He currently runs NF Bootmaker where he makes custom boots and shoes by hand.
for purchasing and all other inquiries:
njflorsheim@gmail.com