I Am Lonely, 2021
THE BACKSTORY
Artistically, “I Am Lonely” was among Nicholas’ first forays using long house painting rollers in descending lines. It also incorporates a top layer comprised of series of delicate dot imprints.
A noteworthy personal element is that Nicholas underwent a brain surgery while working on this piece. As such, “I Am Lonely” is uniquely situated in his catalogue for being divided by two scopes of works — pre-surgery and post-surgery — with the lines applied pre-surgery, and the dots post-surgery.
Heaven's Real, 2020
THE BACKSTORY
This monumental, large scale painting anchored Nicholas’ “Catch Me” exhibition, and has proven to be one of the most iconic works of his career. The artistic process incorporated a process of repeatedly taping and re-taping varying sections of the canvas while working, resulting in a grid system of structuring and and constraining the markings. Critical analysis of the final output — a vibrating patchwork of overlapping colors, produced with thousands of short-brushstrokes — has likened it to the pointillism of George Seurat, with others noting a structural comparison to the late works of Piet Mondrian. Additionally, a personal lens of interpretation might note the final effect as mosaic-like, which is notable in being the iconographic style of the local Greek Orthodox Church Nicholas has attended since childhood.
Lewis, 2022
THE BACKSTORY
Nicholas named this work after the influential curator and collector Arthur Lewis, who visited him in the studio in 2022 during its creation. “Lewis” joins a limited number of paintings Nicholas has named after people, a collection that can be interpreted as Nicholas’ version of portraiture.
Nicholas’ extra-sensory abilities are a notable attribute of his creative process, and while working on “Lewis”, he became intrigued by the smoothness of the surface of the painter’s tape compared to the roughness of canvas. While this work is obviously notable for featuring a pattern that went on to become one of Nicholas’ trademarks — scrawled circles — the green background is also a key notable element hiding in plain sight. Unexpectedly, it is not a paint layer, but rather a series of layers of painter’s tape, fixed to the canvas with archival glue, which can be seen in the subtle vertical lines that underly the organic mass of circles.
