East Hamptons artist Nick Weber is making strides to honor the hardworking people who have come to the Hamptons from other countries in search of a better future.
Inspired by many things—including his own interactions with numerous local immigrants, some of whom he’s painted over the years—Weber has decided to be more deliberate in his pursuit to create a true series of portraits.
“I’ve been interested in people who are immigrants for a long time, long before the art world was taken over by social justice,” Weber said when explaining how he had worked for a landscaping company many years ago and found himself with a deep admiration for his coworkers.
“I was working with some Mexican guys and a couple of guys from Ecuador, and I was struggling to keep up with them just physically and mentally, the repetitive work,” he continued, adding, “It was hard work for me, and the work itself had a profound impact on me and changed who I am in a really positive way.”
A Past Among Friends
Weber recalls days of raking and mowing lawns on palatial Hamptons landscapes, using edge clippers and chainsaws, all while dragging 100-pound leaf piles 200 yards on tops and even more.
“Working like that was just good for me. And so, of course, naturally, without even trying, I began to admire the guys who I was doing it with,” he said. “I just thought, these are tough people. These are hardworking people. These are people who are able to do something that I find very difficult. And I also found them to be patient and warm—it wasn’t just that they had this physical stamina. They were teaching me how to do it. They were patient with me learning as long as they saw that I was trying to do it because I hadn’t done a lot of manual labor as a teenager. And so I became interested in these people.”
Painting from the Community
Weber says he noticed over time that many of the people he painted were immigrants—and not by design.
“A lot of Eastern Europeans. A number of Jamaican people. And, you know, my wife is Bulgarian,” he said.
He points out that this series of paintings includes Mijo (AKA Daniel or Francisco,) a young Ecuadorian artist in his mid-30s; Chelsea from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, who he met when she worked at a local farm stand in 2022 and 2023; Jeovanny, an Ecuardorian who owns a carpentry business in East Hampton; Gonzalo, a landscaper, also from Ecuardor; and Gloria, a Columbian who Weber and his wife met while she was babysitting a farm stand in Amagansett.
Weber shares each of their stories in words and paint, all through beautifully rendered portraits.
Each painting is done from life, with each subject sitting for Weber while he paints. This, he says, brings something special to the relationship between the artist and the subject, as well as the shared deference between them.
“You know, Gonzalo sat stone still without moving for like two hours, two different sessions. He didn’t move at all. And you just felt this guy, he was taking this very seriously. This meant something to him… He does gardening at our house, so I said to him afterward, ‘I’ll Venmo you for your time.’ And he was like, ‘Absolutely not.’ He said this was very meaningful to him.”
These types of interactions have been even more meaningful for Weber, who shares intimate and intricate observations about every person he paints. He not only captures them and does his best to find truth in their faces but also gets to know his subjects in the process. He says the series will continue.
Weber is displaying his paintings in a group show called Amalgam with Jack Henry, Victoria DeLesseps, Isadora Capraro, and Lautaro Cuttica at the Gambit Works gallery in Manhattan (1155 6th Avenue). The show opened on October 29 and will remain open to the public through November 20.
You can see more of Nick Weber’s work at nickweberstudio.com.
