Naomi Nicholls is a painter, but some time ago she decided to stop people just looking at her work... and made them stand within it.
Naomi likes to paint using the movement of her entire body, resorting to brooms and large calligraphy pens to craft her work. For her, it's all about the process just as much as the finished result. Her cool unique style involves painting onto removable vinyl that appears almost 3D within a space, extending out from it. Painting onto the vinyl this way gives the work its stunning vivid form.
...the vinyl is painted in the studio, usually taking up the whole floor with each length - Naomi Nicholls' The Making of Vault
HOW DOES SHE DO IT? It all starts with sketches and colour plans in her studio - and then the first paint hits the vinyl. The installation is just as much a part of the process as well, taking many hours. The paintings are only finished when they finally sprawled energetically around the floors and walls of the space.
You will instantly notice the bright, glossy colours that spill and overflow into each other, moving and entwining to create an image that can feel alive...
"...the edges of my wall-canvas were too far away to worry about. When I did arrive at the wall’s edges, I began crossing its line and painting around the corner."
"I have a physical interaction with my painting at a scale that works for my long limbs. I hope others sense that movement too." - Naomi Nicholls' Breaking Up With The Arts Object
Naomi's paintings mess with the notion of where art should and shouldn't be. You are just as likely to see her work tucked away in a small window, emblazoned on a concrete wall or in a shopping centre hallway - as you are in a traditional art studio.
Naomi is working on something special for Geelong After Dark 2016, which will become a part of the city streets for one night only...see it before it's gone by morning.
But of course - in the meantime, get familiar with more of Naomi's work via her awesome blog.
