Nike Desis is an artist and writer now living in New London, CT. She likes to works on: screen printing, preparing and sending mass mailings, collaging clothing, writing essays, and making zines. This object based and often text heavy artwork often deals with the themes and imagery of: labor and work, gender roles, pop culture, mass produced food imagery, and all narrative as fictional truth. In essays about the sadness of a certain pop singer or analysis about entry level library work, I mess around in the pool of the seemingly banal and bring attention to the creation of culture and the labor required to maintain resources/ objects in public spaces. In zines and mailings, I re-appropriate corporate/ popular imagery and curate content outside of algorithms with a spirit of sharing and generosity.
In a parallel realm of activity, I have made a point to direct my attention towards working collaboratively and laterally. In Philadelphia I co-founded FLUXspace, an art space whose programming was dedicated to exploring the margins. In New Orleans I was member of the New Orleans Community Printshop, an organization run by volunteers, that truly made screen printing accessible and affordable and, as a result, seriously impacted the city’s visual landscape. In New London I am a dedicated “working member” of Spark Makerspace, a multifaceted place of creative and human resources. This work motivated by sharing resources, working with others, encouraging explorations, and maintaining spaces concerned with accessibility.
My creative inquiries circle around inefficiency, or a new efficiency where the bottom line is humane “working” conditions and long term sustainability. The opposite of expected efficiency, I invite it indication of thoughtfulness, intention, and respect towards group process. “Inefficient” activities such as making zines and volunteering at structurally pioneering organizations are the vocalization of my resistance to: the monotony of job work, the inefficiency of bureaucracy, the ignorance of hierarchy, and the violence of capitalism.