Favorite Things: Nathan Hallman and his personal art gallery

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Nathan Hallman is a musician who stays in Lansing’s eastside neighborhood and loves to collect artwork by local creatives, as well as the occasional groovy thrift store find. Naturally, his favorite thing is the mini gallery he’s created using the walls of his home. 

My favorite thing is all the art on my walls. Much of it is paintings I’ve got from friends and pictures I’ve picked up from flea markets and stuff like that. It’s all over my living room; I like it being there because it makes me feel comforted. Each piece reminds me of someone or something in my life. Having it there watching over me makes me feel good. 

One that I particularly like is by Charlie Nash, a musician who recently passed away. He performed at my house and did a spoken-word set. He had some notes on what he would talk about, and he left them on my floor. I have those hung up, and I think that’s pretty cool. I have a couple different pieces of art that are just from local Lansing artists. I like buying local art. 

I like art that evokes memories and feelings. I have a picture that I bought because it reminded me a lot of my brother. He likes wrestling and animals, like whales. It’s a luchador wrestler amongst a bunch of sea monsters. It has vivid colors, and as soon as I saw it, it reminded me of him. Besides that, it’s just a really cool picture. I also have a couple that were painted by my aunt and uncle because they are both artists. Those obviously remind me of my family. 

I think the pictures watch over me. I don’t know why that’s comforting, but it always has been. I had little stone animals that I used to keep around my bed. They would be facing my bed, for the same kind of reason. I liked having them watch over me while I slept. I had a friend sleep over and he thought they were creepy, so he turned them all away. I thought that was funny because he believed the opposite. I thought being watched was comforted, he thought it was menacing. 

I also have a portrait by a young Lansing artist named LaDanian Lewis. It’s done in a kind of cartoony, almost anime, style. I like things that are cartoony and imaginative. When you look at it, it puts you in another world. This picture in particular is kind of like a minimalist portrait. It’s cool when something with very few lines and colors can put you in this other world using such little color and effects.

Interview edited and condensed by Skyler Ashley. If you have a suggestion for Favorite Things, please email Skyler@Lansingcitypulse.com 

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