Hello world, from Life: Full Colour!
8 January 2019
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Nicolai Nickson is a painter and figurative sculptor based in Sweden. His marble and wood sculpture ‘Either/Or’ will be one of the highlights of the International Sculpture Show at Life: Full Colour in October.
Here we learn more about Nicolai’s journey as an artist, what inspires him, and his creative process.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_4,1_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||||||||”]Where did your interest in art come from? Art was part of the environment I grew up in as I come from a family of artists, and I drew a lot as a kid. My dad was a painter and he had a major influence on my development as an artist. My grandfather was a talented realist painter, and my uncle is an established painter in New York. Your focus is on sculpture now. At what point did you switch from painting? I started out as a painter and did that for 10 years, then I switched to sculpture for a while and now I do both but with an emphasis on sculpture. I switched because I was frustrated with painting at that time. I felt like I wanted to explore shapes, space, and volume more extensively, and I’d responded strongly to sculpture the few times I had tried it. An encounter with the great Rodin sculpture ‘St. John the Baptist Preaching’ in Prague was a big revelation for me and I felt a strong connection to it. This led me to the world of three-dimensional form.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.4″][et_pb_image src=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/St-John-the-Baptist-Preaching.jpeg” title_text=”St-John-the-Baptist-Preaching” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” max_height=”360px”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]What does sculpture provide you that painting doesn’t?
I have a strong interest in shapes, volumes, and space. I always felt that shapes were the strongest part of my painting, and in some ways, it seemed like I was trying to create sculpture through paint.
In painting, you’re trying to represent space or volume but in sculpture you get to actually create spaces and volumes. Painting is more representational in this sense, whereas sculpture generates new three-dimensional realities.
What’s your process?
Often it starts with an idea, or it can be a material, like a piece of wood that has a certain shape that I see something in.
I’m a figurative sculptor, so I might draw first to work out the idea and then make a clay model. I use the clay model as the starting point for carving but work rather freely from it, letting the stone or wood guide me. I tend to prefer dry materials to wet materials, which is why I prefer to work in carving and use clay models mostly for studies or preparatory work.
You use a lot of wood and marble together, why is that?
Wood and marble make a striking combination, and I like the challenge of making these two very different materials work together so that they appear unified.
It’s an interesting dynamic and it renews the process for me. There is also an expressive aspect to it. Bridging contradictions is a big part of being human in this world, and a shape that is made up of parts that don’t really fit together but works anyway is a metaphor for this.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Snow-angel-2021-Nicolai-Nickson.jpeg” title_text=”Snow angel 2021 Nicolai Nickson” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Marsyas-2020-Nicolai-Nickson.jpeg” title_text=”Marsyas 2020 Nicolai Nickson” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” max_height=”542px”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”]You studied in New York. What took you there?
My uncle, Graham Nickson, invited me to come to New York for a two-week drawing marathon. Two weeks turned into 12 years!
It was a very intense experience. I met a lot of interesting people, who were very dedicated to their art, and they had a fanaticism that matched my own.
New York brings out the best and the worst in people. I learnt a lot about art in general and sculpture in particular, I got to spend a lot of time sculpting, I had some great teachers and I was exposed to a lot of great work.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]Is there a theme to your work? There is a philosophical or existential quality to my work, though the themes can vary from piece to piece. Generally, I don’t set out to illustrate a particularly specific emotion or thing. I like the pieces to be a bit ambiguous so you can read different things into them. One body of work where there is a concrete theme is the mieskuva series, the ‘faces in the trees.’ They are based on pictures from the turn of the last century of ironworkers from the old mining district I live in. It feels like they are connected to this place, it’s like their spirits remain in the rocks and trees and I wanted to show this. Mieskuva is an ancient Finnish voodoo ritual where you carve faces in trees, and since many of the miners and ironworkers here had emigrated from Finland, the connection seemed particularly appropriate.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Mieskuva-II-Nicolai-Nickson.jpeg” title_text=”Mieskuva II Nicolai Nickson” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Mieskuva-III-Nicolai-Nickson.jpeg” title_text=”Mieskuva III Nicolai Nickson” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default” module_alignment=”center” max_height=”404px”][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]Another is the ‘Prison Complex’ series, three sculptures that were based on photographs of prisoners being tortured at the Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib prisons. It is a comment on what absolute power over an individual can lead to and how that kind of relationship distorts both the guard and the prisoner.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]Do you create every day?
Pretty much, yes. Everyone has their own journey as an artist. It can be a tough slog to keep creating while having to combine art-making with unrelated work. However, the creative process itself is amazing and there are no limits to how challenging it can be as you never seem to arrive.
What do you want people to feel when they see your work?
When other people respond to what you make, then you find you’re not just doing it for yourself. You’re enriching someone’s else’s life and that is meaningful.
In 2016 I was commissioned to create a sculpture for a local church, representing the Virgin Mary and Jesus during the flight to Egypt. At the time, the church had helped a lot of refugees from Syria, Iran and Afghanistan, so this sculpture was a symbol for the refugees who were also seeking safety from persecution. I’ve had so much gratitude and positive response from the parish members.
Who are you making art for?
I’m making art for people who respond to the same things I do. I’m making the kind of art I’d like to see if I went to a museum or gallery.
Either/Or is one of the hero pieces in our sculpture show. Can you tell us about it?
Either/Or is one of the first pieces where I combined stone and wood. I made a torso out of marble but it needed something more, so I carved a head and arms out of wood and attached them. She’s holding an apple and an orange which represents the pivotal moment when making a choice.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”3939,3940,3941″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][/et_pb_gallery][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_cta title=”International Sculpture Show, October 2021″ button_url=”https://www.lifefullcolour.com/gallery/exhibitions/international-sculpture-show-2021/” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Click Here” _builder_version=”4.7.7″ _module_preset=”default”]Nicolai’s work will be appearing in the Life: Full Colour International Sculpture Show from 1-30 October 2021. Click the button to learn more.
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