Nicole Young

Nicole Young is a visual artist and art consultant based on the traditional, unceded and occupied territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Wautuh First Nations (Vancouver, Canada.) Working at the junction of environmentalism, material exploration, and storytelling, Nicole's works are as much science experiments as they are conversations on ways to approach climate justice. She combines repurposed painted canvas with thrifted and hand dyed textiles, often sourcing natural materials to create pigments and dyes. This process is a way to deepen her connection with the natural world, and to create a dialogue about waste-free practices. Moving seamlessly between large scale textile installations, sewn works on canvas, and drawings, Nicole's works blend traditional approaches to textile art with gestural, painterly characteristics.

Born in Ontario, Nicole attended the University of British Columbia Okanagan where she received a BFA in Visual Arts and Art History, and studied studio arts and art history at the University of California Los Angeles. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and abroad since 2010, and her paintings are in private and corporate collections throughout the globe.

Statement:

My work is an exploration of materiality through the lens of nature and environmentalism. I use natural pigments and repurposed textiles to convey connections, patterns, and memories that call to a sense of nostalgia. I approach my work with the mentality that nothing will be wasted during the creation process, and this idea affects the way I create everything from paper studies to large scale installations. Any leftover textiles, papers and canvas are always used in future paintings, and the gathering of materials and production of pigments is of equal importance to the creation of the final work itself. In making this work I am demonstrating the value of working with the land, and creating art within a circular economy.

One reason that I work with textiles is that I find textiles to be so closely tied to memory. Seeing specific fabrics always makes me think of someone I have known, or a place I have visited, and I am interested in the idea that a particular pattern or textile will always evoke different memories from myself to the viewer. In my current work, I am documenting the connections between memory, imagination, and reality, and how these are often fragmented yet dependent on one another.