Lydia Nobles (b.1993) is a New York conceptual artist critiquing societal constructs that affect gender. Her practice engages identity and storytelling as advocacy by extending subjectivity within abstraction. In her ongoing series, As I Sit Waiting, she collects video narratives of people’s experiences with abortion access and creates sculptures in honor of their stories. Each sculpture conveys the act of sitting and is installed to reflect a waiting room chair at an abortion clinic. The sculptures in this series are visceral and communicate the complexity of emotions that are often denied to pregnant people are forced to suppress due to shame, stigma and abortion bans. Nobles’ work utilizes materiality to convey memory, the body, and reproductive histories. Some works repurpose a left-behind high chair or bassinet, others are constructed independently. Specific colors reference the energy of each subject. While the use of texture suggests passing a fetus, birth, and the magnificence of our bodies to support us in all its changes. 

Curated by Destinee Ross-Sutton, As I Sit Waiting will open in a solo show in Fall 2022 in New York City. As I Sit Waiting is also a fiscally sponsored project by the New York Foundation for the Arts. Select 2022 upcoming and current group shows include Lump, Border Project Space, Lyman Allyn Art Museum, and Conn College. Select past group shows include Latchkey Gallery (2022), Cindy Rucker Gallery (2022), Field Projects Gallery (2021-22), The Real House (2021), Pink Noise Projects (2021), LoBo Gallery (2020), Trestle Gallery (2020), Practice Gallery (2019) and Westbeth Gallery (2017), among others. Her work is featured in Hyperallergic (2022) and Smack Mellon’s Hot Picks (Sept 2022). Nobles’ recently completed the artist-in-residence program at Field Projects Gallery (2021-22), Pink Noise Projects (2021), and Trestle Art Space (2020).

IG: @lydianobles