The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, Blackbird Media, and F&M Bank have teamed up to present the Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign. This week, Nicole Kutz is featured!
Nicole is an artist and curator based in Nashville. Her work meditates on life’s transience by using handmade pigments and dyes to create ethereal abstract worlds. She frequently draws inspiration from Wabi-sabi, as well as the Japanese artforms of shibori and kintsugi, and ultimately finds beauty in the work’s imperfections. Her pieces have been shown in galleries, corporate institutions and private collections throughout the world including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and London.
She received her MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2017 While attending graduate school, Nicole was integral in conceptualizing and creating Loupe, a fine art streaming service available on most major television platforms. As Chief Curator, Nicole recruited over 300 accomplished artists and fresh talent to the platform. Nicole has curated and overseen content for installations at The Perez Museum, The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, AC & Moxy Brand Hotels and more. Nicole continues to grow her perspective as a curator in both the digital and physical realms, and she looks forward to her upcoming artist residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland in May 2022.
While living in Los Angeles through 2020, Nicole became particularly impacted by the wildfires, as she watched the areas that had inspired her art succumb to disaster. Her current series addresses the anxiety felt from that environmental stress and ties it to female vulnerability.
“I feel women are often conditioned to be afraid as a survival tactic,” she explained, “As I continue making this work, I realize this fear is shared by Mother Earth, as she too feels the constant threat of aggression experienced by most women. Yet for all the ominous insinuations, these paintings are imbued with power and strength, reminding us of the ability of nature – and humans – to change course, adapt and overcome.”
The red scenes throughout the area and media began seeping into her artmaking in the forms of red trees or landscapes signifying the suffocation she felt. She references that ominous red in her work.
“Although I was surrounded by beauty, it all felt sinister because of my perspective,” she recalls.
“As humans, we attempt to hold onto existence and prolong the inevitable, yet it is only through accepting our lack of control that we can live fully,” said Nicole. “Painting has enabled me to accept this truth.”
Learn more about Nicole Kutz’s work on her website.
Want to be featured on The Nashville Sign? Visual artists working in any medium, who are members* of the Arts & Business Council at the Basic Level ($30 annually) or above, are eligible to apply for Artist of the Week on The Nashville Sign.
*Those unable to become members due to financial barriers can be granted a waiver. Contact us at [email protected] to be confidentially considered for a waiver.