Interview with Nina Eaton

ART, WHATEVER IT TAKES

Since the early pandemic in 2020, Rome Art Program has conducted a series of interviews, “Art, Whatever It Takes.”
Artists, Art Critics, and Art Historians living in Italy, the U.S., and U.K., share their insights during these powerful times.

Nina Eaton is an American artist born in Wisconsin. Her art training was in Minneapolis and at the Art Institute of Chicago. She exhibits regularly in Italy and the U.S and is a Faculty member teaching painting on the Rome Art Program. Nina lives in Rome, Italy.

RomeArtProgram: Where do you live, what is your background?

Nina Eaton: I am an American who has lived in Rome for 31 years. I am from the Midwest, I studied art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Minneapolis College of Art and Design, where I earned my BFA. I lived in those cities as well as my city of birth, Racine, Wisconsin, and a four year soujourn in Washington, DC at the turn of this century.

RAP: In your opinion is there a creative method?

Nina: I think people find their ways that accord with their individual situation and needs. For example the idea of a muse is very interesting; the personification of all those elements that seem to go into finding the inspiration to be creatively productive. A person you can interact with that sparks your creative juices. Of course that person tends to get very difficult to rely upon, but it seems worth trying.

RAP: The “lock down moment” can set you on the path of some important change(s) in your creativity and style…Has this happened to you?

Nina: It has shown me inarguably how fate does have a hand in what we accomplish. We are not so in control as we would like to think, so I hope that I am becoming a little more “zen” in my attitude.

RAP: What normally inspires you? Which is the most important inspirational source you have found in Rome?

Nina: I really feel inspired when I have my first coffee in the morning. It might be a chemically induced illusion, but I have to take it as my starting point. As for the actual substance or subject matter, that would vary according to what I am working on, but I also find that people, whether they are other artists or not, are also inspiring. So for example if I have a good conversation with the barista, there I have checked two sources of inspiration off my list so I had better head straight for the studio and get to work before it wears off.

RAP: Is there a difference in working in Rome for an artist? What art medium do you prefer to work in?

Nina: I love watercolours, oil paints, paper, canvas, and digital manipulation of photographic imagery. As for a difference working in Rome as opposed to any other city, nowadays it is easier to work internationally from Rome than it was in past decades, I believe. And perhaps sourcing certain materials is easier from Rome than, say, New York if you need to get to Carrara, for example, simply by virtue of being in the same country. The center of Rome is like no other city, and it can be an inspiration and a distraction.

RAP: Specific events and historical conditions have a significant role in the creative process; how does this pandemic emergency affect the Arts?

Nina: I hope that in general people will find a new appreciation for art in general… I wish there was a way to get the experience of authentic cinema back; maybe out of nostalgia for togetherness?

RAP: How are you feeling at this difficult moment and what made you feel this way? Are you optimistic for the future?

Nina: I find the need for new projects keeps nagging at me, even if I don’t know where it will take me as an outcome. All creative endeavors feed other ones, so I am trying on new hats. I am writing poetry. I am making videos. Since there are small art galleries open, I go see shows with the added advantage of getting personal attention and conversation from the gallery owners or even the artists if they are present during the appointment time. So, yes I am optimistic if only because pessimism isn’t really an option.

RAP: What can Art contribute to history? Will “Art save us”?

Nina: Art has always been with us. We invented it, we are human, we will continue to expand on established forms and invent new ones and reinvent and expand the definition of art itself. We need it, so we will always do it. And I don’t think that art contributes to history so much, as if it were an activity outside it that had to be added, like an afterthought. Rather I would say that art shows us ourselves, and gives clues about how were were in the past. A lot of the notions we have about art include a kind of retro-understanding because of how art history has been done, and I think its liberating to play with our sense of time when looking at art, to use our imagination to try to put ourselves in a different context or P.O.V. .

RAP: What is your most ambitious dream? And the greatest sacrifice that you have made?

Nina: Ambition, Dream, Sacrifice. The trimvarate of the heroic artist story, the resolution being… a place in art history? Dream on! I can only live through my personal abilities and life conditions, so ambition, as for many, has to be adjusted accordingly. Like many women with artistic aspirations, I have chosen to sacrifice doing art rather than caring for my family.

RAP: Recently, the artistic and cultural message of Italy and Rome was reemerging as a great “work in progress”,…is this your point of view?

Nina: Italy has the largest cultural patrimony of any country in the world besides China… according to Unesco, they are tied for first place. How does that weigh in on contemporary art? Sometimes it seems like its good to have a vast catalogue to draw from and other times its seems like a hindrance. The term “work in progress” is problematic, it can seem like a cop-out when you are trying to keep up with something outside yourself when you really would do well to take stock of your strong position. Italy is like this. Everyone wants to be here. All artists pass through here.

RAP: Which is your favourite Italian, or Roman, place(s) of art (Museum, Gallery, Monument)?

Nina: It really is impossible to choose, although I am very glad to live near the Capitoline Hill, it is rich with history and legend, and the museums are worth visiting again and again.

RAP: Which period of Italian Art do you prefer? What is your favourite Italian work of art?

Nina: Like a time traveller, one can choose a category from art history and then submerge oneself. Lately I have come to appreciate Arte Povera, which could have only happened in Italy at the time it did, and which is almost a kind of cure for Stendahl syndrome. I have been living in a state of Stendahl Syndrome for thirty years. If I have to choose a favorite work of art that leaps to mind in this moment, it would Atalanta e Ippomene, by Guido Reni. It might be something else the next time I am asked.

RAP: How has Rome personally influenced you as an artist and a person?

Nina: Living in Rome is like living in a vast multidimensional interactive museum, and it has changed me in ways I cannot begin to articulate. I can say it is humbling and exhilarating on a daily basis.

RAP: What’s your goal? What role does the artist have in society? Any final thoughts and advice?

Nina: Having goals is a good thing when you have limited time. You can plan and chop it up into manageable bits, in the hope of accomplishing something resembling what you started out to do. Losing track of predetermined goals is scary, as unforeseen elements make their way into your vision. Don’t be afraid of this. John Keats, the great english poet who died in Rome, talked about negative capability, which allows for uncertainty in creative endeavors.

www.ninaeaton.com