I Turn Antique Keys Into Creatures With Lives Of Their Own

Nathan Bell was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the product of two families with broad and deep creative roots. Throughout his youth he was encouraged and supported in his artistic endeavours.

Having first studied jewellery making in high school, Nathan attended the Alberta College of Art and Design, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jewellery and Metals in 2000.

To date he has expanded his preferred media to include metals, woods, fabrics, natural materials, and found objects. Whenever possible, he incorporates salvaged materials, locally harvested domestic timber, and scraps and off-cuts deemed “unusable” by others. Still informed by a jeweller’s sensibilities - meticulous construction, and intimate scale - Nathan’s work is now primarily sculptural. He draws heavily on historical aesthetics, but tints and twists them with a blend of mystery, curiosity, and playfulness.

The Salle Sublime is Nathan’s vision, a home for his oeuvre, an imagined, perfect room, filled with oddities and artwork, objects of intrigue, beauty, and wonder.

Nathan lives and works in Black Diamond, Alberta.