BIO:
Tobias Fike, who lives and works in a suburb of Denver, CO, is an interdisciplinary artist. The form of his work is incredibly varied and he approaches a range of concepts, from his personal experiences of family, place, and grief, to humankind’s temporal relationship with the universe and observations of time.
Fike was born in Lincoln, NE, moved to Kansas City when he was ten, and then later returned to Lincoln to attend the University of Nebraska, where he earned a BFA in 2000. He received his MFA from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2011. Fike has done multiple national tours showcasing his rich performance and collaboration-based projects. He is a founding member of the Flinching Eye Collective, which was a 2014 Grantee of The Idea Fund, funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Additionally, one of Fike’s collaborative works with Matthew Harris, a longtime colleague, is in the Kadist Art Foundation, Video Americas Collection, now housed in San Francisco, CA.
Fike's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with exhibitions in many cities, including Berlin, Germany; Coimbra, Portugal; Shanghai, China; Houston, TX; Tucson, AZ; and Chicago, IL, to name a few.
STATEMENT:
He hadn’t seen me for a while and I had recently shaved my hair. He looked at me and said, “You have your grandfather’s hairline.”
I take a comedy/tragedy and micro/macro approach toward my art. I deal with personal themes, even utilizing my own family and balance this intimate examination by my reference to the cosmos. My mother would often take me outside to show me constellations. We all share the same sky, and can connect through its familiarity.
I'm influenced by the landscape that surrounds me, first in childhood in the Midwest and now in CO. My material selection of dirt, tumbleweeds, and raw wood can be traced back to that environment. My minimalist approach mirrors the expansive quality of the vast plains. Everything appears minimal on the horizon line. Living along CO’s Front Range has been a source of inspiration. The mountains dwarf trees and play with my perception of scale.
“You come from your own story, and in the end it becomes everyone else’s.”
‐ Marina Abramov