A woman wearing a pink, heart-shaped pillow over her head navigated carefully down the center aisle of the Michigan Theater. She made her way up to the stage with three other similarly dressed audience members until the two arched halves of her headdress reached up towards the men sitting above her.

The room grew quiet and after a moment Nick Cave, a visual and performance artist from Chicago, relayed the costumed woman’s message to the audience. “They say they are open heart creatures and they love me,” he said with a chuckle.

After his hour presenting to a packed house about his work and the theory behind it, the rest of the audience was in love as well.

Cave came to Ann Arbor as part of the Penny W. Stamps distinguished lecture series put on by the University of Michigan School of Art and Design.  The event was a question and answer session between the director of the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Joseph Rosa, and Cave.

Rosa described Cave as an “artist, educator and performer with a natural ability that is unending”, who has been extremely successful and garnered significant critical acclaim over the majority of his professional career.

The discussion centered around Cave’s creation of so-called Soundsuits. These are pieces of performance art designed to be worn by people. The Soundsuits are made with found objects that Cave fuses and modifies to make something completely new. Often, the works are so intricate that the shapes of the individual objects are lost and the aesthetic of the whole piece takes precedent.

“I’m interested in looking at the body as a vehicle or a carrier,” said Cave. The Soundsuits, made of everything from twigs to buttons to sequins to sweaters to children’s toys to hair to knitted and crocheted rugs, obscure the traditional human form. Many of the pieces are sculptural and cover the body so that only the ankles or the hands are visible.

The Soundsuits are displayed in galleries and public places as well as photographed. Cave films people wearing and moving around in the pieces as well as taking still shots. “I learn more about my work once I walk away from it,” he said. “New forms… come to my work during the photo shoot.”

To find materials for his projects Cave travels with his staff and visit flea markets across the country looking for pieces that he is “responding to” at the moment. Cave enjoys this aspect of his work and is liberated by working with everyday supplies. “My surplus is outside my door. It’s everywhere!” he said.

Cave finds it rewarding to create art out of objects that are considered “low-craft”. His style is to push the envelope and attempt to create one-of-a-kind pieces. “I’m interested in working between forbidden territories,” he said.

Behind where Cave and Rosa sat on the stage, a slideshow looped. It showed still pictures and video of Cave’s Soundsuits. The bright, colorful pictures were even more vibrant against the background a dimly lit auditorium and the two men dressed in black.

Cave, who trained as a dancer before becoming an artist, says his Soundsuits address social issues such as race, class and gender.

In addition to creating work for gallery shows, installations and commissions, Cave teaches graduate students a The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been praised for his ability to teach while still creating art. Cave described a very linear creative process in which he and his assistants work on one or two pieces at a time before sending them off to be installed, collecting new materials and starting again.

Working with students invigorates and inspires Cave. “I’m very interested in coming into the classroom every Monday,” he said. He hopes to help his students prepare to run their own successful studio in a time when it is difficult to make a living as an artist. “You teach them to think for themselves… When you are pushed out there into the world you have to start making decisions,” he said.

For his next big project Cave is creating horse figures that are operated by two or more people that will run through the streets of Dallas. Having always been fascinated by public displays such as parades, Cave is hoping to “bring people together” with this event.  The horses will eventually arrive at a corral created by a group of music students playing percussion instruments. “I’m interested in the role of animals in the dream state,” said Cave. “I thought, ‘What could… let the mind get out of the day to day pressure or grind?’”

Cave’s work is nothing if not unique. It creates entirely new forms and images from objects that are not traditionally considered beautiful or interesting. Cave said, “I’m interested in that moment where I can get in trouble… right on the cusp of that point. I like to be there most of the time.”

To see photos of some of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits visit http://www.saic.edu/gallery/saic_displayimage.php?pos=-3061