“What hangs on my walls are things I’m passionate about” - A conversation with Carma Visions’ collector Dr. Nitin Engineer.

Every art collector’s story is different, making an impression on the collection itself. I caught up with Dr. Nitin Engineer of Engineered Aesthetics Plastic Surgery Institute to discuss his art collection, how it started and how it’s evolved, as well as his unique professional background – a successful career in the field of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, which he considers to be the perfect union of art and science. A hand surgeon turned plastic surgeon, Dr. Engineer is an artist in his own right – a nature, wildlife, landscape, and portrait photographer who uses the human body as his canvas.  

Dr. Engineer’s art collection is a hyper-realistic and surreal-drenched celebration of pop culture, musical icons, comic book collectibles, and the female form. The many pieces of his art collection displayed in his medical practice, Engineered Aesthetics, not only contribute to the atmosphere of the office but represent the diversity of his interest.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

CV: Give me a brief introduction to the man, the myth, the legend of the great Dr. Nitin Engineer

NE: I am a plastic surgeon here in Las Vegas, NV. I developed an interest in the surgical arts when I was a young kid. I was about 17 working in a hospital back home. My first interest was in hand surgery and that evolved into plastic surgery as I met mentors along the way. I found there were a lot of similarities between what I wanted to do as a profession and what I found beautiful in the world as it pertained to art.   

CV: Tell me about your journey/interest in collecting art. When and how did you begin?  

NE: My interest in art started with the basics of comic books which evolved into reading art magazines, spending time in museums, and studying art and photography throughout college. I developed a passion for photography that also blended with what I found was beautiful in the world, particularly the human form. Whether it be a caricature, a comic book rendering of someone, or what I’m truly fascinated with now, which is hyperrealism. You get an exaggerated realism of what you see in an image or features.   

For instance, Lori Earley is one of my favorite artists and she exaggerates the eyes. The eyes are enlarged and expansive, and the features are very defined. That speaks to me. It reflects on what I do for a living as well because I work on those parts of the body, too.

CV: When did you begin collecting? Do you remember the first piece you ever collected?  

NE: I don’t. That is interesting. Some of the first pieces I commissioned were from a few of my favorite comic book artists. I would spend time at comic book conventions, meet the artist and ask them to draw a particular character, in whatever fashion, that I wanted on a comic book cover. I had them certified and framed - a wonderful way to preserve that piece of art, but have it be one-of-a-kind. Some of those first commissions were my first big art purchases.  

One of my favorite pieces that I have is by Rob Liefeld, who created Deadpool, he did a rendition of my favorite character Wolverine. Just to be able to meet him and spend time with him. Rob said, “Well, I’ll go up,” and he went to his hotel room and drew it. He brought it down and presented it to me, I took a picture with him and sent off the drawing to get certified and signed.

My first big purchase of art was from Lori Early when I found her in Juxtapoz Magazine, that’s when I fell in love with her art. I then contacted her, her representative at the time, and told her I wanted to buy some pieces. I bought a collection of about four or five pieces. Some of them hang in my office and some in my house.  I think those would be my two biggest initial - dipping the big toe into the sea of creating a collection.   

A Virtrual Look inside the art collection of Engineered Aesthetics

CV: How would you describe your art collection? What kind or type of pieces are there in your collection? 

NE: Most of them are some forms of portraiture, particularly the female, and female forms. That’s very attractive to me. I’d say it's pretty eclectic. It goes from hyperrealism to realism to almost, like I said, borders on caricatures. I have a fair amount of photography and that collection is comprised of landscapes. The medium that I particularly like to shoot in is infrared, which accentuates the infrared spectrum of light and brings out things that we can’t see. For instance, a green tree would look bright white because of how the infrared light is emanating from that object and in that spectrum of light. 

CV: Is there anything that unites all the artworks in your collection? Would you say you have an affinity for a specific aesthetic?

NE: Yeah, I think the human form unites it, most of my stuff is portraiture. I just added a couple of new pieces to my collection that is of the full human body, which is a newer venture. Some sort of portraiture, usually the female face, is probably what unites a lot of it.  

Sometimes if there’s a poignant figure – I’m a big music fan and fashion is quite interesting to me, so if that is incorporated into the art it reflects my affinity for it.  

 I have a couple of cool original sketches or drawings, not just concept sketches, but completed sketches of the final piece. One of them is of Alexander McQueen, drawn by Lori Earley, and it’s colored and beautiful. I have another one of hers Debbie Harry from Blondie that hangs in my house. Also, just beautifully rendered.  

CV: I think it's fantastic that you have many pieces of your art collection displayed in your medical office – do you believe they contribute to the atmosphere of your practice, and if so, how? 

NE: Absolutely, because it diffuses, or disarms, that sense that a medical practice has to be a sterile clinical environment. Now you walk into Engineered Aesthetics and see it’s warm. It’s embracing. It’s interesting, we often have patients walking up and down our halls taking pictures of the art that we have hanging – which is a compliment in itself, that somebody likes what you like, and sees beauty in what you see as beautiful.  

So, I think that’s number one, it's so embracing. It’s warm. It’s enveloping, it's disarming and then the patients are a little bit more relaxed when they walk in. They’re not so intimidated, you know? And it brightens up the room, it's not at all sterile. 

 CV: Hypothetically, if you are stranded on an island and you can only take one piece of art with you. Any type or form of art, what piece in your collection would you take? 

NE: I’m not just saying this because of this interview, but I’m in love with the octopus. I’m in LOVE with that octopus – it’s the centerpiece in our lobby. It’s just gorgeous. 

CV: What do you love about collecting artwork? 

NE: I love that it’s intriguing. You sit there and stare at the artwork and it makes you happy. It fills you with enjoyment. It fills me with some sort of fulfillment to see the human body can create something so real. That can peer back at you, because these pieces look at you, and you look at them. Every day I find something new in them. 

CV: Where do you discover new artworks or artists to add to your collection? 

NE: Nowadays, social media is huge. There are so many new artists that I come across that I know by name or buy their art, and I’m trying to figure out how to collect their art. I look through art magazines such as Juxtapoz and HiFructose, those are the two big ones. I’ll look at drawing magazines as well. If I see something I like, I’ll go online, Google search, and just go down a rabbit hole. 

CV: Who are your top three favorite artists? 

NE: Lori Earley. There’s a local artist, Lynne Adamson Adrian, I have three of her pieces – I just love her stuff. She accentuates the canvas with newspapers, envelopes, or letters and paints on them.  

Justine Florentino, I love her. She has a lot of hyperrealistic art, and I have two of her pieces – the Lana Del Rey ones. 

CV: What advice would you give to the novice art collector? Or people that are just starting out and interested in collecting art? 

NE: Find what you love. Don’t let anybody dictate what your taste is. There are pieces that I have that people don’t, or wouldn’t care about, and then there are pieces that everybody wants, you know? Don’t go with the popular flow. Don’t see what’s trendy, don’t try and collect a piece of art for its value and investment. I mean, you can and there’s nothing wrong with that, but what hangs on my walls are things that I’m passionate about. I love them. I didn’t buy them for investment purposes. I bought them because that’s what I wanted to hang on my wall. The best advice I’d give is to choose what you love.    

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Dr. Engineer is a board-certified surgeon with surgical excellence and artistic prowess. This makes him the ideal partner for plastic surgery in Las Vegas, Nevada for those with the vision to look their best. Stop by Engineered Aesthetics Plastic Surgery Institute to view the art collection!

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