When Nicholas Gates grandmother passed, he was devastated. After all, she was the one who said, “Everyone has talent. Go and look for your own. It might take more time than others, but stay in God’s hands.”
Words like these inspired the East St. Louis born and raised artist to create something that would symbolize the lessons his grandmother painted for him. Throughout his life, she had continuously advised him to stay away from gangs and “street life.” So while he grew up around the inner cities trying to avoid being “of the streets,” he found himself in a unique position to speak for the ghetto and it’s disenfranchised population.
Quite accidentally, or quite prophetically, the inspiration for this virtuoso to create sculpted masterpieces came initially from the loss of his grandmother.
Nick was enrolling in art classes around the time his grandmother passed away, and beginning to learn the intricacies of working with ceramics, clay and other mediums of self-expression.
During the classes’ winter break project, the assignment was to depict or express feelings of ‘empathy’ with the use of clay.
“All I could think about was my grandmother,” he recalls, and she was my initial motivation.
He admits without hesitation and with a bit of laughter that in the beginning he “wasn’t that good at it.”
But this newfound talent created a glimmer of hope in his life. On his first sculpture, hands came to represent family, graves depicted a loss of life as well as his own sadness – sculpted after a model of one of his favorite Hip Hop groups, ‘Da Bush Babees.’
“They had pictures of themselves drawn in cartoon on their album, so I picked a character – MC Babe Face Kaos – whose image represented myself in the piece.” Describing the creation in excitement, he said, “It was me, fully head-to-toe, wearing a Mecca jacket, some big, blocky Adidas and fully detailed. The kids in my class were all like, ‘I didn’t know you could do this!’ Needless to say, his classmates and even his teacher were blown away by his dexterity and ingenuity.”
This modern day urban artiste admits to never running out of creative sculptures ideas. His prodigious talents and remarkable aesthetic sense seem to know no limits. With his stunning and monumental bust of the late Aaliyah Haughton, he has managed to capture her timelessness as well as the singer’s elegant essence and once spiritual nature.
He possesses several other noteworthy sculptures including The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Tupac Shakur (complete with “Thug Life” tattoo and cross pendant chains).
Currently working on sculptures for hip hop artists, Ludacris, Nelly and Chingy, he’s also been commissioned to create pieces for super producer Timbaland and rapper/actor Ice-T. In addition, he will soon have completed busts of hip-hop pioneers including Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa.
Respect for the architects is something that is more than just a way of thinking, it is embedded in Nick’s way of life – his father Jim Gates was recognized as the first DJ to spin a Hip Hop record on Bi-state radio.
Unsurprisingly, Gates repertoire transcends only using his hands, in fact the multi-talented artisan is also a highly acclaimed break dancing instructor and choreographer who has appeared on national TV shows such as “So You Think You Can Dance?” as well as choreographing for some of Hip Hop’s crème de la crème.
“Break dancing is a street art that is rarely taught in a studio setting, and people need to understand where it came from,” he says, “Not only do I teach the moves but also the history behind it.”
Gates has performed with such acts as the Chemical Brothers, the Black Eyed Peas, Nelly, Wyclef Jean and Rock Steady Crew. Some of the performances were impromptu. When the Black Eyed Peas were at St. Louis University for MTV’s Campus Invasion tour in 1999, Gates and a friend were break dancing in the crowd when a couple of MTV producers spotted them.
With such gifted hands (and feet) and a unique way to communicate hip-hop culture and customs to new audiences. He creates the type of life-like physical and visual artwork that gets the endorsement of widely recognized shows such as BET”s successful Hip Hop daily primer, “Rap City.”
In the future Nick hopes to be recognized in the company of such prolific icons as Leonardo Da Vinci, Donatello, Ernie Barns and Pablo Picasso. His brilliance on canvas and on the dance floor showcases his ability to interpret modern day African-American culture that has the power to virtually speak for itself.
For More Information visit: www.kid-n-clay.com