Meet Nahshon Hollis | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nahshon Hollis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nahshon, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
When I was a 3 or 4 years old, I said I wanted to be a famous artist. I was always drawing and painting on paper as a kid. My preschool teacher kept a big collection of drawings I did for her all the time. Every morning as a toddler, I’d sit in front of the TV as a kid and watch Pappyland, and draw along with Pappy Drewitt as he drew cartoons. When I was 7, I was a big Bob Ross fan and I took oil painting seriously because of watching him paint on TV, and I was doing lots of paintings in his style. My parents were extremely supportive, especially when I won lots of accolades for my art as a kid. I was even featured on Oprah Winfrey’s website in a competition to highlight the world’s most talented kids. The Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art hosted my first art show when I was just 13. So I always felt I had a sort of duty to be an artist and to keep growing as an artist as much as I could. I started to develop my own style as a teenager, and I kept trying to make each piece more detailed than the last. I always felt determined to never give up on art. In the past handful of years, I haven’t been painting much after battling with mental health issues. After getting into gardening a lot as a new favorite hobby since 2020, with encouragement from the art community here in Bermuda, and with support from my sister who has become somewhat of a celebrity here for her artwork, I’ve started to get back into painting in a big way.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I like to make work that amazes people with how much realistic detail I can create in my work, and with how much thought I put into the composition and the underlying meanings in my work. A lot of people like how it seems like I haven’t stuck to one look with my art. A lot of my recent work looks very lifelike and colorful, but some of my older work has been more surrealist, symbolist, darker, or sometimes more like graphic design. Competing with myself is a big part of how I’ve gotten better. What excites me is when I shock myself as I try to outdo myself, and when I keep learning a bit after each piece. That seems to happen a lot when I’m working under pressure and I’m determined to not give up. I’m pretty quiet and shy, so I like when I do work of a really high quality and when my work seems to do lots of the talking for me and brings opportunities to me. Things haven’t always been smooth. I struggled with my mental health for a while, so I was creating less and less, and was beating myself up about that. I wasn’t as aggressive at asking for help when I should have. Over time I realized more and more that life goes on, and I wanted to go forward and get back into art at some point. I started to get into gardening in the middle of the pandemic. It’s my favorite hobby now and feels like a different form of art for me. It has so many mental and physical benefits, and I even won an award in a local gardening competition. That, and my sister doing great with her art, has motivated me to get back into painting consistently. So has the thought of everyone who has supported my art since I was a kid and who believed I would do great things.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’d play tourist with them all over Bermuda. I’d maybe suggest they come the week during the Bermuda Cup Match holiday on August 1st and 2nd, or Bermuda Day on May 24th. I’d take them out to Bermuda Harbour Nights, the Crystal Caves, the Bermuda Aquarium, the National Museum of Bermuda, the Bermuda Botanical Gardens, the Ocean Discovery Centre, Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art, the Bermuda National Gallery, and the Bermuda Society of Arts. I’d take them to Bermuda’s beaches, like Clearwater, Cooper’s Island Nature Reserve, Horseshoe Bay, and Tobacco Bay. I’d take them to restaurants on Front Street and in Hamilton, like Frog & Onion, Harbourfront, or L’Oriental. I’d take ferry rides with them to Dockyard and St. George’s. I’d take them to Segway Tours in Dockyard. I’d take them to the Speciality Cinema in Hamilton. I’d take them just across the road where I live to try Seaside Grill’s fish sandwich, and other takeout restaurants like Ice Queen and Jamaican Grill. I’d take them kayaking just off the shore of my home. The locals in Bermuda tend to be pretty colourful and friendly people. The recent painting of my sister, “A Colourful Neighbour”, is meant to partly symbolize the colorful neighborliness of Bermuda’s people and traditions. My sister embodies that spirit a lot, so I’d definitely make sure they meet my sister. She’s a great ambassador of Bermuda.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have to dedicate my shoutout to my immediate family. My sister, Shanna Hollis, has been a big help in encouraging me to make a comeback with my art. She’s done a lot of work to develop into a big artistic force in Bermuda. I never saw that coming when I was a teenager, and I had no clue she’d choose a career in art. She helped to get my social media pages and website up and running. She’s inspired me by her work ethic, her positivity, and her accomplishments in the art scene. She was also the muse of my latest painting of her, which won the 2023 Charman Prize, the biggest art competition in Bermuda. The encouragement I received from that has been overwhelming. I also have to give a shoutout to my parents, O’Neil and Shawn Hollis, who have always been very supportive of me ever since they realized I was skilled with art. Since I was a kid, they turned the living room into an art gallery of sorts and always made sure I had what I needed to create art. Through all kinds of ups and downs, they’ve encouraged me to believe in myself and not give up with my art or any productive things I’ve gotten into.

Website: https://nahshonhollis.com

Instagram: @nahshonhollisart

Image Credits
Nahshon Hollis