For East End artist Nick Weber, portraits are a window to the immigrant story

In a Springs art studio, tucked away from the beaches and billionaires that shape the Hamptons' image, painter Nick Weber is building his own version of America — one face at a time.

His portrait series, “Melting Pot: Friends from Afar,” is a visual ode to immigration, friendship and patriotism, rooted in his personal relationships and vision of what the United States can be at its best, he said.

The idea started as a "pushback against the rhetoric" surrounding immigrants that painted them as bad people, he said.

“That conflicts directly with my experience … because my experience had always been, these are some of the best people I'd ever met, and they were coming here because this is a great country, and they are the people who help make it great,” Weber said.

W eber, who has painted portraits since the early 1990s, said he began painting people simply because he found them interesting. Over time, he noticed a pattern: Many of his most compelling subjects were immigrants. 

“There was something that seemed different about them, and I wanted to tell their stories — not necessarily in a narrative way, but through their face,” Weber said. “Everybody's face tells a story.”

'These guys became role models'

In his early 20s, after college, Weber worked in landscaping in the Hamptons alongside a crew of men from Mexico, he said. He remembers them as some of the “best people” he’d ever met — tough, creative, generous, sending money back home to relatives while bringing humor and humility to hard work.

“I was a young guy trying to model myself. 'Who am I going to be?'” he said. “These guys became role models.”

Those experiences stayed with him, he said, especially as harsh rhetoric around immigration intensified about a decade ago during Donald Trump's first presidential campaign. The East End has a substantial immigrant population; in East Hampton Town alone, 23% of the population is foreign-born, according to U.S. Census estimates.

That tension pushed Weber to turn what had been an incidental pattern into a focused series, he said. He started “Melting Pot” in 2022. Initially, he focused on people from countries he felt had been “insulted or disparaged,” including Haiti and Mexico, he said.

As the series progressed, Weber broadened the range of his subjects. All are people in his life, mostly friends and fellow artists living on the East End.

“It became more about a patriotic reminder that, hey, the superpower of this country has been immigration,” he said. “We have it all in this country: all the ideas, all the cultures, all the brilliance, all the creativity, all the love of life.”

The series now includes 21 portraits and more are planned.

Among those subjects is Gloria Mendoza, of Wading River, who came to the United State four years ago from Colombia. Mendoza, who has worked as a babysitter for Weber, said she was happy to participate in the project. “It's so nice to see how some Americans value the immigrants' work and effort to start a new life here. That is not easy, but we put all our efforts to do it.”

"When I saw the painting, [Nick] told me, ‘You see, I can see your strength ... that you are a confident person, and that you have a lot of values,’" Mendoza said. "It was a nice feeling, because I didn't see that in me before. So all this process made me appreciate more all the things that I'm doing here."

Edna Winston, of Amagansett, said she is proud to be part of the portrait series. An immigrant from Mexico, she said the portraits challenge stereotypes of immigrants as criminals.

“I felt special. I felt seen, and respected and just very touched to be a part of this series," Winston said. The paintings show "that we're human beings and we're kind people, and we have passions.”

A snapshot in an hour

The paintings begin in Weber’s studio or on the surrounding grounds, he said. The sessions are intentionally intimate and fast. He usually paints each subject for about an hour; sometimes with a second sitting, he said. Later, he may make minor touch-ups from quick iPhone photos.

For Weber, those sessions are as much about hospitality as technique.

“The policies of this country can put you in jeopardy. But the policies in this studio, with this person right here — you’re safe,” he said. “And that may only be for the hour that you're here, but let that still be something that can help you, help your mental health, help you feel appreciated.”

Despite the varied appearances of his subjects, Weber sees common traits. Immigrants, he said, are “people of action” who have taken risks and left loved ones behind.

“Everybody here has taken the leap, so to speak, and so they all know what they're made of,” Weber said. “They know they've been through a lot, and that has given them both humility and great confidence.”

The impact comes when the works are viewed together, he said. The portraits now hang in his Springs studio, but he hopes they are displayed together in a museum or gallery one day.

Weber said the country is “being tested” but believes the series offers a counterpoint.

“But when you see this, and you feel this vibrancy and this energy, I think that anyone standing in front of these is going to feel a sense of patriotism, that this is what we can be,” he said.