In Good Company: Noah Singer
An ongoing series of short interviews with artists that we work with or admire called “In Good Company.” Answers are lightly edited for length and clarity.
Location: Chicago, IL
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
As a child, did you know you wanted to be an artist? If not, what did you want to be?
I’ve always wanted to be in a creative field. When I was a small boy, I wanted to be an artist: painting and ceramics. As I reached by early teens, I was very influenced by the existentialists and dada; my heroes were Sartre, Ionesco, Wood, Magritte, and Cocteau. I fell into acting and was an apprentice with two theater companies. As a junior in high school, I came to Chicago for regional auditions to theater programs at NYU, Julliard, and a couple of other schools. I was accepted at NYU and planned to move to New York at 17. Then my life took a 180 degree turn, but that’s a story for another time. I didn’t return to making art until my 40s.
Have you had any jobs outside of the art world? If so, how have those jobs informed your work as an artist?
For many years, I was an administrative manager/director at some very large law firms and also at a high frequency trading firm. I’ve also managed artist studio spaces for over 20 years. My roles have always been people-oriented. I am very adept at hearing what people need and want, even when they don’t verbalize it and inherently intuit solutions to complex problems. I see patterns in everything. I think those experiences very much inform my work. One of the ways I taught myself to solve “problems” at work was to visualize them as puzzles; I would twist and turn them in my mind until I found the answer. In many ways, my art practice echoes those practices.
What is your favorite non-art object in your studio right now? Why do you have it?
My friend Alex Chitty made me a very rudimentary wooden balance platform. I’m not really sure what it is supposed to benefit health-wise but I find myself standing on it often, rocking back and forth, finding balance and then, letting it go again.
What has been a defining moment of your artistic career so far?
I think it’s simply that I get to work in my studio every day. It is so clear to me how fortunate I am to spend my days (and nights) making art. So few get to do this without being saddled with a day job or jobs. Nothing brings me more happiness than walking through the door of my studio in the morning.
How do you measure your own success in the art world?
I have worked diligently to not measure my success or fulfillment as an artist by externals. Having a gallery show, selling work, receiving praise, or press coverage: all of those things are lovely and very gratifying when they occur. But, the process of making work itself is my personal measure of my success as an artist and that my work continues to grow (as hopefully I do as well) is the most rewarding aspect of my participation in art. The utter joy of being in the studio, whether I’m on a creative streak or blocked, nothing comes close. I also think being in discussion with other artists, whether it’s verbal or through my work, is very gratifying. To participate in the discourse that artists have been holding for so long now and stretches forward into the future, well past my life I’m sure, is both humbling and inspiring.
If you were placing artwork in an office, what three artists would you be most excited to work with?
As I worked in many office spaces (and they all had artwork), I understand the importance of artwork in an office. For me, it was often a lifeline. In one of the law office’s conference rooms, there were Sol Lewitt lithographs that I loved and secretly planned on stealing when I left the firm (no, sadly, I did not). I’m not quite sure how this trio fits together and I’m selecting each for very different reasons: Alex Bradley Cohen (painter), Ben Houtkamp (stained glass!) and Min Song (sculpture, photography).
To see more of Noah Singer’s work, check out his website or Instagram.
. . .