NICOLE FINGER
Nicole Finger paints from her studio in Telluride, Colorado where she has lived and raised her family surrounded by the spectacular beauty of the San Juan Mountains. Her work regularly shows both nationally and internationally in juried and solo exhibitions and can be seen in many private and corporate collections as well as national publications.
Primarily recognized for her bold, highly realistic, close-cropped and oversized style; she approaches varying subject matter whether figurative or stills with a similar aesthetic. She has been drawn to a minimal and close cropping of the subject as a means of getting literally and figuratively closer to it. She frequently uses her own children as muses in hopes of distilling and expressing their inner psyches, but leaves interpretation up to the viewer. Evoking an emotional response without imposing any particular statement is her goal. Pursuing a high level of realistic detail while not sacrificing the rich, textural quality of the paint is a balance in which she strives.
“BLOOM"
Blossoming youth, life transition, ancient mountains, the fragrant breath of cut flowers all convey the ephemeral pull of time and a grasping at the fleeting nature and fragility of life.
Nicole Finger’s figurative works have dealt with love, loss, groundedness, vulnerability, and phases of life. While they give emotional context to her subject’s psyches on the cusp of adulthood and their ties to the natural environment, so too do her floralscapes.
Profoundly humbled by such breathtaking landscapes in her own backyard in the Southwest region of Colorado and other locales; Finger never felt that duplicating them in paint at face value would do them justice. Instead, she found a contemporary twist of combining two disparate yet complimentary subjects: short lived, delicate florals alongside the timeless permanence of our earth’s formations and landscapes.
The custom of gifting and displaying flowers in celebration, memoriam and in appreciation of their inherent, natural beauty amplifies the concept of timelessness verses inevitable loss and projects a plea to embrace the momentary with gratitude, respect and compassion in our lives and in our fragile relationship to the environment.
FOOD SERIES
“Food as the ultimate universal and inclusive subject matter is loaded with personal memory and attachments. I've always been intrigued by the idea of elevating ordinary subjects through art. As sweets and baked goods, in particular, have become ever more taboo in our societal concerns over health, these images are almost reminiscent of idolatry or fossils of a past time in our memories and thus elevated even more.
I strive to reach a high level of realism while not sacrificing the rich, textural quality of the paint as it aligns itself so perfectly to the sensuous and luscious attributes of the subject itself.”
CONCEALMENT SERIES
“There is an obvious and palpable connection occurring through the direct eye contact which commands the viewer to engage, while thinly obscured by a filter of veils, sunglasses or lights. This visual barrier creates a sense of push and pull both physically and metaphorically reflecting the emotional states of the subjects on the cusp of adulthood; a mystery and vibrating energy of what is to come.”
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