Nicole Etienne
“ My bedroom has always been a place of refuge, my own private sanctuary to rest and dream. A life boat adrift in a land where nightmares and fantasy wind round each other so tightly I can’t tell one from another. I try to capture the memory of my dreams and imagine where they want me to go. My art supplies are ingredients in experimental lab sessions. Things get thrown against walls, paint splatters, tender details rendered and erased. In my practice destruction and rebirth cartwheel and merge until within the chaos magic appears. “
-Nicole Etienne 2019
Nicole Etienne’s masterfully painted mixed media compositions fly across the canvas, exploding with vibrancy and sensuality. With a background in painting and photography, Etienne travels extensively, shooting the many elaborate and romantic settings that inspire her. She then manipulates her photography, tweaking each image to create a mystical entry point from which to continue her process. Once an image is printed, on either glitter or natural canvas, the real transformation begins. With thickly applied paint and other materials including gold leaf, glitter, even Swarovski crystals, Etienne adds powerful movement and extreme opulence to her base image, creating an intimate, unexpected moment in an extraordinary environment where anything is possible and the only limit is the imagination. Captivating us with dizzying skill and beauty, Etienne grants her audience full permission to dwell, delight and enjoy the fruits, flora and fauna of her exquisite labor.
Nicole Etienne’s work is in numerous public and private collections. She earned her MFA from the New York Academy of Art and her BFA from the University of California Santa Cruz. Solo exhibitions of her work have been mounted in New York, Aspen, London, Dublin, Tokyo and Saint Barthélemy and she has been included in group shows and art fairs worldwide. Nicole Etienne currently resides in Los Angeles, having recently returned to the states after several successful years working and exhibiting in the UK.
EDUCATION
New York Academy of Art, New York, USA: Masters Degree 2007-2009 CUM LAUDE
Lorenzo De Medici, Florence, Italy: Fine Arts 1996
University of California at Santa Cruz, California, USA: Fine Arts 1995-1997
University of California at Santa Barbara, California, USA: Fine Arts 1992-1995
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2018 “The Darling Buds of May”, Bert Green Gallery, Chicago, USA
2017 “Love” Space Gallery St. Barthelemy
2016 Grace Belgravia, London, UK
2016 “Mischief and Mayhem,” Gallery 49, Aspen Colorado USA
2015 “The Great Escape,” Mead Carney Gallery London, UK
2015 “Menagerie,” Space Gallery, St. Barthelemy
2014 Naval Heritage Museum, Porto Montenegro
2013 “The Chase,” A One Night Stand, Blake’s Hotel, London UK
2013 “Into Blue,” The Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barthelemy
2012 “Atomic 13,” Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barthelemy
2011 “A Moveable Feast,” Sloan Fine Art, New York USA
2010 “Bare,” Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barthelemy
2010 “Boudoir,” 286 Gallery, London UK
2009 “Land Water Sky,” Urban Retreat Gallery, Dublin Ireland
2006 The Berkeley Gallery, The Kilkenny Arts Festival, Kilkenny Ireland
2003 The City Art Gallery, North Carolina USA
2001 Enatsu Gallery, Tokyo Japan
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & ART FAIRS
2019 SPace Gallery Soho Woman Day Show, New York, New York USA
2018 Space Gallery Soho, New York City, USA
2013 Art Hamptons with Cynthia Corbett Gallery
Art MRKT San Francisco with Cynthia Corbett Gallery
Young Masters Show, Henley Festival
Somerset House, London
2012 Cill Rialaig 21 Anniversary Exhibition, County Kerry
Royal Western Academy, Coates and Scarry, London
2011 Art Miami with Cynthia Corbett Gallery
Scope Miami with Sloan Fine Art
Lesley Heller Workspace, New York
Sloan Fine Art, New York
2010 Queen Elms Gallery, London
Eden Rock Gallery, St. Barthelemy
Medialia Gallery, New York
2009 Take Home a Nude New York Academy of Art, New York Sothebys
2008 Take Home a Nude New York Academy of Art, New York Sothebys
2007 Wills Art Gallery, London
2006 Bliss, London
2005 Wills Art Gallery, London Bliss, London
2004 Wills Art Gallery, London
2002 Wills Art Gallery, London
Zantmans, Carmel-by-the-Sea
Artist in Residence
Eden Rock St. Barthelemy 2009-2012
Cill Rialaig Ireland 2000-2010