About Me

The work of Skye Nicolas cultivates a perfect synergy between two forms of art: the art of portraiture, and the art of fashion photography. Both art forms are thematically known to celebrate idealized beauty, romanticism, human sexuality, and the female figure. The provocative power of Nicolas' large-scale portraits of stunning faces lie in his 'up-close and personal' approach to capturing the elusive underlying sensuality and sublime eroticism within his chosen subjects. Occasionally working from photographs shot by others, he often uses his very own taken directly from personal photo sessions. The closely cropped figures in his paintings spread throughout the planes of a large canvas resemble the aloof attitude and composition of high fashion editorial spreads, ad campaign layouts, and modeling agency polaroids. These blown up images of beautiful women confront the viewer as if the subjects themselves were looking into a mirror; projecting a reflection of unapologetic narcissism, while at the same time revealing a vulnerable and endearing youthful innocence. Nicolas makes good use of such ironic sincerity characteristic of the fashion world's power to influence how beauty is perceived and consumed by a shallow media-saturated society. His signature brown ground peeping through finely diluted layers of thin paint provides a blanket of warmth; mimicking skin tone, and adding dimension to the otherwise flat application of a monochromatic palette. The intensity of Nicolas' expressive lines are most evident in his large oil and crayon drawings on wall size sheets of brown paper, demonstrating his ability to conjure both emotion and mood with confident strokes that create a majestic image of intimidating size. The Mortelle Series: an ongoing collaboration between the artist and Marlon Richards (son of rock legend Keith Richards) explores the unconventional possibilities of how beauty can be captured even in death. Presented in several 'acts', featuring femme fatales posed as characters in a fictitious murder scene. Inspired by classic black and white film noir of the early 1940s and 1950s, this most curious series plays upon the basic aesthetics of the genre: emphasizing moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Radically using playing card symbols (numbers, characters, and suits) is one of Skye Nicolas' highly distinctive trademarks which has become iconographic, easily identifiable, and uniquely synonymous to his work. First introduced in his series of paintings entitled Twenty One, Nicolas devised a simple yet effective method which enabled him to easily satirize, appropriate, and claim any given image or work by simply marking the upper left corner of the picture plane with a number or character accompanied by a suit, characteristic of an ordinary playing card. The simplistic approach and potency of using this type of symbolism not only displays Nicolas' ingenious ability to playfully test the boundaries of appropriation art, but also paved way for numerous works derived from this groundbreaking technique. Disintegration also referred to as "The White Paintings", is a series that opened his investigations to what Nicolas refers to as Reverse Appropriation, which he simply describes as - "The reclamation of negative space". Appropriating the alluring images of fashion model composite cards by means of commercial photo reproduction, a most common process used to generate fashion retail advertisements, he enlarges these tantalizing images to a size which not only intensifies the visual impact of the original photos, but also clearly illustrates the potency of sexuality in its usage as the main ingredient in postmodern advertising: where presentation takes precedence over substance. Using layered washes of white paint and tedious digital manipulation, he intentionally eliminates these appropriated images from the picture field. The gradual reduction of sharpness and detail produces a dramatic effect, engulfing the stunning victims with creeping dissipation, as if the images were slowly vanishing before the viewer's eyes like fading frescoes of a once majestic facade. The achromatic areas are treated with a minimalistic approach, echoing techniques typical of abstract expressionism. The series introduces an austere approach to painting by Nicolas which unifies the use of commercial reproduction with modern art's more-traditional methods that beautifully captures the poignant ambivalence felt in an era of social decline. It exaggerates an impassable truth that the acceleration of technology and its irresponsible use will ironically and systematically eradicate anything in its path. Ranging from large format paintings on canvas to limited edition prints, the Sinatra 'Howls From The Underground' series exemplifies Nicolas' broad range of skill and creativity: pairing socio-political commentary with elegant compositions of vivid imagery through various means of well executed appropriation and seamless word play. Nicolas cleverly juxtaposes carefully chosen images with bold billboard-type advertising slogans; the result is a handsome collection of works that poignantly captures the mood of a dispirited consumerist generation bound by the trappings of materialism in a failing world economy. 'Still Life Kills' (2009) is an homage to Gustave Courbet's L'Origine du monde, and a nod to Marcel Duchamp's brilliance and triumph in redefining modern contemporary art. The "art imitates life" cliche extends beyond the work and ironically seeps into the artist's personal life; amplifying Nicolas' natural charismatic appeal towards an intrigued audience. His honesty for aesthetically favoring young attractive fashion models to pose for him, combined with the familiarity of their faces making repeated appearances in his work has sparked controversy and speculation to whether Nicolas himself engages in open sexual relationships with the beauties in his portraits. The prominence of their dreamy gaze, the subtle sexual tension and erotic gestures of his muses suggests that a profound personal connection exists between the artist and these women. Such indiscreet accusations have only fueled a growing fascination with his public persona, and has caught the attention of an ever growing number of fans and admirers of his work. Having been commissioned by a select few, Skye Nicolas is sought after by a discerning class of socialites and celebrity who have also acquired his exhibited works for their private collections. He continues to captivate his a-list supporters through private viewings in New York City and major cities in Europe; some of which have been attended and supported by Philly Adams of the Saatchi Gallery of London, art mogul Jay Jopling, and legendary British curator Sir Norman Rosenthal.

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