"Nick Naber’s paintings at the Java Project bring to mind city plans, brutalist architecture, transistors, and microscopic crystal structures. Lines and shapes are straight, angular, and tightly controlled. Contradicting isometric perspectives build a three dimensional space that leaves the engaged viewer disoriented. Forms intrude sharply from above, below, and at differing angles. They obstruct the ground and dictate movement. There’s no secure footing and no place outside the structures to rest. The formal subject matter conveys a repressive atmosphere. But if an artist intends to simply relay such an oppressive or dystopian mood, it might be similarly accomplished with computer printouts or slick oil paintings—identical compositions to these in different media could provide the basic metaphor. But the surprising material choice of watercolor on paper allows rich and unexpected complexity."

-Scott Robinson