Watkins Welcomes 'Modern-day Geppetto' Chris Sickels March 7

Visiting Artist’s Gallery Show ‘llustration the Hard Way: Process, Sets & Puppets’ On View Through April 4

Illustrator and animator Chris Sickels, who creates eccentric visual worlds through a unique combination of three-dimensional sculptures, photography and illustration, will speak at Watkins College of Art, Design & Film on Thursday, March 7, to open the 2013 Watkins Visiting Artists Exhibition.

Sickels’ remarks will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Watkins Theater, immediately followed by a reception to celebrate the gallery show Illustration the Hard Way: Process, Sets & Puppets. The exhibition of works from his Red Nose Studio, which includes preparatory sketches, fabric samples, photographs and puppets, will be on display in the Brownlee O. Currey, Jr. Gallery on campus through April 4.  The exhibition is mounted in conjunction with the Watkins Visiting Artists Series, which brings distinguished artists to campus and to the community.

“Chris Sickels aka Red Nose Studio is one of the most inventive illustrators on the planet,” said Dan Brawner, Chair of the Department of Graphic Design at Watkins. “An avid scribbler, builder and maker, Chris is a modern day Geppetto, cobbling together new worlds out of springs and cogs and other found bits and pieces. Via books, advertising and animation he entertains a wide audience with his odd, puppet-filled worlds – garbage barges, look books and holistic visualization are but a few curious topics that have inspired investigation and storytelling. The visual treats from Red Nose Studio are a feast for the face.”

All events are free and the public is invited.

About Chris Sickels

The creative force behind award-winning Red Nose Studio, Chris Sickels peoples his illustrations with endearing characters in intricate sets that draw in viewers with wit, intelligence and charm. His 3-D illustrations are built from a variety of materials; sets and puppets involve wire, fabric, cardboard, wood, miniatures, found objects and often anything within arm’s reach. Red Nose Studio’s illustrations appear in advertising, magazines, books, newspapers, packaging, character development and animation for clients such as Target, the New York Times, Microsoft, Time, United States Postal Service, AARP and Random House Books.

Sickels’ work has been recognized by virtually every illustration award institution or annual and has been featured in HOW, Print, Creativity, Communication Arts and 3x3 Magazine.  Sickels has twice been honored with the Carol Anthony Grand Prize award from the Society of Illustrators 3-D Salon. Two of his short films, “The Red Thread Project” and “Innards,” were selected to screen at the 2005 and 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festivals.He authored and illustrated  “The Look Book” and has illustrated the children’s book “Here Comes the Garbage Barge.” The children’s book “The Beginner’s Guide to Running Away From Home” will be released in June. An Indiana native who works out of his studio near Indianapolis, Sickels holds a BFA in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Illustration from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

He is represented by Magnet Reps. For more information, visit & Puppets.">RedNoseStudio.com.

The Watkins Visiting Artists Series is an annual yearlong program that welcomes nationally and internationally recognized fine artists, designers, filmmakers, educators and critics to the campus and the community. The third season of the Watkins Visiting Artists Series kicked off in December with a presentation by video and performance artist Liz Magic Laser (New York’s Armory Show 2013 Artist Commission). Also on the series schedule is a March 28 visit by interdisciplinary artist Harrell Fletcher, one of the most important figures working in social practice today, and an April 16 lecture by photographer Deborah Luster.

Updates to programming for each artist’s visit will be posted to the Watkins website: Watkins.edu/VisitingArtistsSeries.

Watkins is located at 2298 Rosa L. Parks Boulevard in MetroCenter; free parking is available in the campus lot.  For more information, visit Watkins.edu or call 615-383-4848.

The Watkins Visiting Artists Series is made possible through a grant from the Memorial Foundation.