About Nika and her work
I make both concept and craft-oriented art work. I started out as a fiber artist who primarily handfelted hats, cowls, and housewares. Then I started making work about the body. Sometimes the work is just labor intensive and materials oriented. Other times, I’ll find a performer to interact with some of my sculptural objects, and the final work is the photograph documentation. I also have a fictional character, Topsy, who represents fractured stereotypes of race and gender. Topsy stars in her own series of posters, 8×10 prints, movie posters, postcards, and t-shirts.
I graduated (finally!) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2009. During my time there, I focused on Fibers & Materials Studies, Sculpture, and Fashion Theory. I live in Chicago, IL with my husband, dog Joesph, and two cats. I’m a makeup artist by day, but still make and sell hats and cowls for the holiday season.
I’ve sold wearable crafted objects at at events, such as Zora! Fest, The National Folk, and Great Lakes Folk Festivals, as well as at the Hot House, Three Arts Club, and Textile Arts Center holiday sales.
Group Exhibitions
2009 Material Mixer: No Pun Intended, TOJO Gallery, Chicago, IL
Spring 2009 Undergraduate Exhibition, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL
Change, South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL
Art Erotica, Westside Multimedia Gallery, Berwyn, IL
2008 Cherry Bombs in the Basement, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago IL
Interface, Brickermade Gallery, Chicago, IL
68/08, Roger Brown Study Exhibition, Chicago, IL
Sculpture as Medicine: Fetishes, Physiological Spaces, and Healing Actions, International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL
A Hirsute Affair, Gallery X, Chicago, IL
Ausländerstraße, Peter Jones Gallery, Chicago, IL
Version Festival: Dark Matter, Tea Party Collaboration, Viaduct Theater, Chicago, IL
2007 Doppelgangers, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
1999 Art Bash, Gallery 2, Chicago, IL
1997 Summer Fine Arts Exhibition, Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen, MI
Grants & Awards
2008 Archibald Motley Fund Grant
2007 Distinguished Scholars Merit Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Enrichment Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Michigan Fiber Festival Scholarship, Allegan, MI
1999 Trickster’s Hat with Jacqueline Vaughan, Tops with a Twist Competition, Spin-Off Magazine
1998 Academic Scholarship, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Merit Scholarship Nomination, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1998 1st Place, East Lansing High School Art Show, East Lansing, MI
1997 Capitol Region Community Foundation grant, Lansing, MI
Best in Sculpture, Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen, MI
Pilot Major Recipient, Interlochen Arts Camp, Interlochen, MI
1996 Silver Medal in Sculpture, National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
1995 Silver Medal in Sculpture, NAACP National Act-So Competition
Bibliography
Spin-Off Magazine, Tops with a Twist, Spring 1999, 46 – 47
Spin-Off Magazine, Jacqueline and Nika Vaughan: Trickster’s Hat, Fall 1999, 2
Professional Experience
Present – 2007 Makeup & Hair Consultant for the Fashion Dept. of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Present – 2004 Freelance Makeup Artist
2007 Felting Demonstrator, Zora Neale Huston Festival of the Arts and Humanities, Orlando, FL
Children’s Studios Maintenance Crew, Lill St. Art Center, Chicago, IL
2002 – 2000 Studio Manager, Linda Campisano Millinery, Chicago, IL
2002 Guest Art Instructor, Sankofa Shule Academy, Lansing, MI
2001 Adjunct Faculty, Triton College, River Grove, IL
Felting Demonstrator, Great Lakes Folk Festival, East Lansing, MI
2000 – 1999 Felting Demonstrator, National Folk Arts Festival, East Lansing, MI
1999 – 1998 Art Instructor, Frances Xavier Warde After School Program, Chicago, IL
1998 Teaching Assistant, Lansing Art Gallery, Lansing, MI
1996 Teaching Assistant, Early College Program, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
