Artist statement
Nick's work subverts the methods and rituals of childhood play to create images that conjure feelings of both nostalgia and anxiety.
His most recent series of works (entitled In Hiding) draws inspiration from children's tendency to 'hide' in a very visible way under blankets and towels. Nick investigates how this childhood desire to cover ourselves to find 'protection' from being viewed is mirrored in society. Working with googled 'found' photographs of celebrities, athletes, suspects, party-goers etc all covering their faces, the artist has blurred or replaced the original backgrounds. Removed from context the figures' reasons for concealing their faces become unclear and the characters become comic, menacing or uncanny.
The earlier works shown here (from the series Dens and Lairs) subvert childrens' dens. The child-like method of construction sits uncomfortably with their vaginal forms, with the result that they are both threatening and inviting. Their openings act as entrances to 'the other'.
At the heart of Nick's works is an anxiety, a feeling that we are not secure and our position of safety (physical or emotional) is threatened by some keenly felt but vaguely perceived source.
Qualifications and training
- 2009 MA Fine Art - Printmaking, Royal College of Art, London
- 2006 BA Fine Art, Loughborough University School of Art and Design, Loughborough
- 1998 BSc Physics, Manchester University, Manchester
Solo exhibitions
- 2011 In Hiding, Lakeside Art Centre, Nottingham
- 2010 Dens and Lairs, Lace Market Gallery, Nottingham
- 2007 Looking Into Depth, The City Gallery, Leicester
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Lot's Wife, Salisbury Arts Centre, Salisbury
- 2011 The Everyday, Marsden Woo Project Space, London
- 2010 New Contemporaries, A Foundation and ICA, Liverpool and London
- 2009 New Sensations, A Foundation, London
- 2009 Northern Print Biennale, Multiple Venues, Newcastle
- 2008 Close to Home, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London
- 2008 Heart of Glass, Shoreditch Town hall Basement, London
- 2007 ARTfutures, Bloomberg SPACE, London
- 2006 New Contemporaries, A Foundation, Liverpool and London
Residencies
- 2010 AA2A, Loughborough University School of Art and Design, Loughborough
- 2010 Artist in Residence, Leicester Print Workshop, Leicester
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2010 Juliet Gomperts Trust Award, Juliet Gomperts Trust, London
- 2009 British Institute Award, Royal Academy of Arts, London
- 2009 Tim and Belinda Mara Award, Royal College of Art, London
- 2006 Fenton Arts Trust Award, Fenton Arts Trust, London
Educational experience - tertiary
- 2012 Visiting lecturer, University of Chichester, Chichester
- 2011 Visiting Lecturer, University of Bolton, Bolton
- 2011 Visiting Lecturer, University of Teesside, Teesside
- 2010 Tutor in Fine Art, University of Nottingham, Nottingham
- 2010 Lecturer in Printmaking, De Montfort University, Leicester
- 2010 Visiting Lecturer, University of Brighton, Brighton
- 2009 Visiting Lecturer, Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford
- 2009 Visiting Lecturer, University of Leeds, Leeds
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