BIO

Nikki Painter is a Virginia artist whose mixed-media works are inspired by the natural world. She has had solo shows at Second Street Gallery, Shockoe Artspace, COOP Gallery, and Purdue University's Rueff Gallery, among others. Her work has been part of numerous group exhibitions, including shows at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the Taubman Museum, and the Daegu Arts Center in South Korea. 

Painter has attended artist residencies in Virginia, Vermont, Wyoming, Georgia, and Florida. Her work is part of many private collections and public collections including those of: Notre Dame of Maryland University, Capital One, and the Katzen Museum. In 2022, she was awarded a Fellowship for Works on Paper by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

She resides in suburban Richmond with her husband and a growing collection of houseplants.

STATEMENT

My mixed media garden works portray plants in intensively patterned spaces through a combination of painting, drawing, and collage on paper. I call them “gardens” because I imagine them as places that are alive and changing.

Observing nature and hand drawing intricate patterns are forms of meditation for me. Patterns within my gardens are not decorative: they imply depth and space, and they build a buzzing energy. Black patterns contrast the works’ subject matter, adding gravitas and serving as a reminder that beauty can have an edge. Subtly referencing the chaotic side of nature via drips and splashes, painted grounds provide the work’s color. Fluorescent colors lend intensity and vibrance.

My Gardens body of work includes several series: "Night Gardens," "Sunset Gardens," "Layered Gardens," and a mixed media installation titled “Garden Crush.” Each series presents a variation on my concept of the garden as a site of abundance and heightened experience.

With a color palette of black and white or black overlaying fluorescent colors, "Night Gardens" evoke a somber, contemplative atmosphere. "Sunset Gardens" consist of fluorescent orange, pink, and lilac to reference the sky's colors in the moments preceding nightfall. "Layered Gardens" pair white with bright colors and include elements of low relief sculpture that feel ethereal and whimsical. Combining aspects of all of these, “Garden Crush” is a large-scale, three-dimensional, mixed media installation.

Rooted in eighties pop culture, my visual style refers to bright colors and digital collage techniques that were hallmarks of music videos and cartoons from that time. These things shaped my inner bank of imagery, and they are evident in the worlds I build within my work.

My gardens celebrate the complexity of existence: our lives are fragile, always changing, and filled with astonishing beauty.