Nicole James, a NYC-based painter and creative director, discusses her journey from advertising to fine art, exploring the intersection of commercial and personal expression. She shares insights on navigating the art world, time management, and the evolving nature of artistic identity. Nicole also reflects on her experience at the Spring Break Art Fair and the importance of community, collaboration, and resilience in an artist’s career.

Here’s what we discuss:

1. Overcoming societal pressures and the starving artist myth.
2. The role of time management in sustaining an art career.
3. How personal experiences shape artistic themes and narratives.

About Nicole-

Nicole James is a New York City based artist recognized for her intimate, cinematic paintings of celebratory moments gone wrong. 

Foregrounding a dual interest in classical still life and modern narratives, James adopts on-screen aesthetics to create wildly saturated and quietly unsettling vanitas paintings that use the collective symbolism of familiar personal objects to tell stories that exist somewhere between the artist’s autobiographical experiences and the audience’s. Often focused on the fleeting, James’ work is characterized by a palpable tension between the emotional chaos of the subject matter and her meticulously devotional painting technique. She has exhibited widely in New York City, with presentations at SPRING/BREAK, O’Flaherty’s, IRL, Storage, Halsey McKay, Room57, and Harsh Collective, and is held in various private collections. 

Website: www.nicolejames.nyc
IG: @nicolejames.nyc 

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