Nick Cave

Nick Cave, born 1959 in central Missouri, USA, is an American fabric sculptor, dancer, and performance artist. He is best known for his Soundsuits: wearable fabric sculptures that are bright, whimsical, and other-worldly. He also trained as a dancer with Alvin Ailey. He lives in Chicago and is director of the graduate fashion program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Cave is represented by the Jack Shainman Gallery, and has exhibited his Soundsuits since 1999. His work was shown at UCLA's Fowler Museum in 2010, where Barbara saw it.

Soundsuits 2009, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

"Whether Nick Cave's efforts qualify as fashion, body art or sculpture, and almost regardless of what you ultimately think of them, they fall squarely under the heading of Must Be Seen to Be Believed..." (Roberta Smith). Cave calls his sculptures Soundsuits, to evoke the sense of movement, rattles and rustles inherent in the design of the pieces--which are composed of manufactured and handmade fabrics, such as beads, sequins, bottle caps, old toys, twigs and hair, and seem poised to explode into ritual dance. Exploring issues of ceremony, ritual, identity and myth, they embrace various traditions and cultural and historical references, from African fetish objects to Japanese Butoh dance. From Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

The relationship of the earlier figures (2008-2009) to American Indian and African dancers is obvious.

Soundsuits 2011, "Meet Me at the Center of the Earth", UCLA Fowler Museum and Seattle Art Museum.

The Soundsuites figures of 2011 are more playful. For the left one Cave used black Voodoo dolls. The right one is loaded with toys.