David Nader , Fabric Artist, Author, DJ

 

David Nader: Fabric Artist, Author, Disc Jockey

In Mary Shelley's 1831 Introduction to her novel, Frankenstein, she writes:

"Invention consists in the capacity of seizing on the capabilities of a subject, and in the power of moulding and fashioning ideas suggested to it."

I think this "capacity of seizing on the capabilities of a subject" is one of the primary elements that distinguishes David Nader's work as a fabric artist.

Found objects, what for many would otherwise be scraps, get repurposed and integrated into one of David's masks. He does this in surprising and yet cohesive ways. 

To view one of his masks is to realize again that nothing is what is seems, and each object exists first as we observe them on the surface. One can, indeed, judge a book by its cover. And one can be altered by explorations below the surface may bring.

For example, in the mask above, 1 Track Mind, I see Hitler, frankly, though he may not be there. Oliver Hardy with a hangover may be there too. It's all in my perception of what's been placed in front of me, or what the mask has dredged from memory. 

There's a magic at work when viewing masks. David understands this well, and has studied the tradition. I think this has helped him to allow his masks to breathe. It's the viewer ultimately who fills any void that might demand each mask must have a meaning.

There have been times when I've looked at David's masks and thought there weren't any faces in any of them, none there at all. I never think I'm wrong to think this. What I see is what the mask has brought to me, and what I've brought to the mask.

Here is another example, Autumnal Gladness. I find myself under the sea with this pair of eyes. I think of starfish and sea urchins and yet I also see the colors of autumn. I feel humor as I see less of a face than I do of an idea, a titillation, and one more reason to enjoy David's work.

This one, pictured above, possesses similarly warm colors, and a face lives in there somewhere, I'm sure of it. 

No, I'm not sure. And I don't mind. This mask is named, Rites And Wrongs Of Summer. 

And above, looking ever so sneaky, how about some Devils Food Ache? 

Wolfish to me, nightmarish, feline, partly feral, partly mischeivous, there's so much going on here if I'm willing to pause, look and absorb.

This one David calls Corporate Green. I know this gent. I've met him in various hotel lobbies.

Here is what David says about his work: 

"I produce images using various mediums that reflect what goes on around me. My stories are tied to place but travel nicely. Social, political and cultural commentary are expressed to hopefully amuse and give reflection."

This above is called Pyschotropic. We've all been there.

David continues: "The fabri-sculpture masks have similar themes of intended personal expressions, cultural/political  satire and ways of being.  The interplay between image, title and 'frame' expose and nurture a narrative."

Is it purple or mauve, cyan or lavender? David calls this one Night Tripper. 

He explains that "Seasonal symbolism is also represented with the masks.  I strive to be elemental in message, material and acquisition.  And... I always suggest that people tell their own story."

Curmudgeon. I know this fellow, as well. Or maybe he is a she and I know them both.

Here we have Collateral Damage. This mask by Dave, and many others, were featured at the gallery, Lava, in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

This above is The Ghost Of Christmas Past.

David's fiction is equally amibiguous, irreverent, and charming. His book The Wayside Pulpit is a collection of fables and tales that are deceptively simple, and invite multiple readings. He calls them urban folk tales.

 

I've had the pleasure of hearing him read some of them in public at different venues such as the Worcester Public Library in central Massachusetts, pictured above.

He's edited an anthology, Street Sighns, which features different voices and more urban folk tales, though based specifically in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts and rendered in poems, short fiction, and hybrid forms.

His book, Congress Alley is about the artist community in Worcester during the years 1966 and '67.

David and I worked together with publisher Robert Louis Henry, and editor Melanie Browne of Leaf Garden Press, along with Swiss photographer Dan Smyers to create the cover for the poetry collection, Keepers Meet Questing Eyes. 

https://leafgardenpress.blogspot.com/2014/07/keepers-meet-questing-eyes-by-john.html

David has been a disc jockey for many years, working at WCUW in Worcester, and WUMD at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. 

Here's a couple of links to archived recordings of his Mix Up World show on WCUW: https://spinitron.com/WCUW/dj/62812/Dave-Nader and https://spinitron.com/WCUW/show/79843/Mix-Up-World

He currently hosts a show at WRIU, 90.3 FM, at the University of Rhode Island. This is a program guide link https://wriufm.org/program-guide/ and this an international access link:  https://www.allradio.net/radio/26801

Dave's an ethnocmusicologist, of sorts, a student of world music, jazz, rock, blues, folk, you name it.