Many people spend their entire lives carving out a niche for themselves. The Brooklyn renaissance man Isaac Nichols, on the other hand, managed to form his only several years post-graduation. After teaching himself ceramics for fun, his pots um, grew. Boobs. The pots grew boobs. Since then, the one-man show behind Universal Isaac has toiled to keep up with a burgeoning demand for his special variety of terra-cotta handiwork. But not without some, you know, bumps and curves along the way. Here, the potter talks to us about life as a breast man.
Shop all Universal Isaac here and check out the mini lookbook above, created especially for OC by photographers Laura Perlongo and Blaise Cepis.
JANELLE ANNE: One of your pots is named Adam. Is he a friend? A muse, maybe?
ISAAC NICHOLS: Adam was my adopted brother. He read The Wizard of Oz books to us and let us sword-fight with real sticks and broken golf clubs. In child safety terms, he gave no fucks, which I think, in hindsight, won our respect.
I also liked the name Adam for its biblical reference, as well—being the first human-dude to inhabit this place. I came up with this idea to construct a world of super hippie, New Age pot characters. Think I just spent too much time reading the Dr. Bronner’s label, and thinking about yoga and how it’d save my life.
You’ve got a signature breast style that doesn’t feel hypersexual, yet appealing—how’d you strike that balance?
Thank you. I think it had a lot to do with what I was around. I'm not mentioning names here, but: Mandisa Wright. They're Mandisa's breasts—or at least the first ones were. I’ve made a lot now. I’ve spent days now—literally, days—trying to make beautiful breast pots. It’s like each new pot was another attempt. What I learned was this: There’s some serious beauty in what’s imperfect.
How do you feel about the nickname “Boob Potter”? Better than the possibility of "Pot Head"?
Ha! I was resentful at first, but then I embraced it. I don’t think I could deal with "Pot Head." A decade ago, I would’ve had to call the brand “Power Pots,” or something more overtly associating breasts with female empowerment.
Speaking of female empowerment, what do you think your boob pots would say if they could talk?
Jeez. “I’m up here"?
Have you ever made custom boob pots or faces to, you know, match your clients’?
Ha! That's funny. I mean, if Je
Shop all Universal Isaac here and check out the mini lookbook above, created especially for OC by photographers Laura Perlongo and Blaise Cepis.
JANELLE ANNE: One of your pots is named Adam. Is he a friend? A muse, maybe?
ISAAC NICHOLS: Adam was my adopted brother. He read The Wizard of Oz books to us and let us sword-fight with real sticks and broken golf clubs. In child safety terms, he gave no fucks, which I think, in hindsight, won our respect.
I also liked the name Adam for its biblical reference, as well—being the first human-dude to inhabit this place. I came up with this idea to construct a world of super hippie, New Age pot characters. Think I just spent too much time reading the Dr. Bronner’s label, and thinking about yoga and how it’d save my life.
You’ve got a signature breast style that doesn’t feel hypersexual, yet appealing—how’d you strike that balance?
Thank you. I think it had a lot to do with what I was around. I'm not mentioning names here, but: Mandisa Wright. They're Mandisa's breasts—or at least the first ones were. I’ve made a lot now. I’ve spent days now—literally, days—trying to make beautiful breast pots. It’s like each new pot was another attempt. What I learned was this: There’s some serious beauty in what’s imperfect.
How do you feel about the nickname “Boob Potter”? Better than the possibility of "Pot Head"?
Ha! I was resentful at first, but then I embraced it. I don’t think I could deal with "Pot Head." A decade ago, I would’ve had to call the brand “Power Pots,” or something more overtly associating breasts with female empowerment.
Speaking of female empowerment, what do you think your boob pots would say if they could talk?
Jeez. “I’m up here"?
Have you ever made custom boob pots or faces to, you know, match your clients’?
Ha! That's funny. I mean, if Je