As Above So Below at Modfellows Gallery May 2022

June 09, 2022

I'm thrilled to share photos from "As Above, So Below" along with the show's press release below! You can also read a review of the show by The Nashville Scene!

Nicole Kutz and LYNX met while pursuing their MFAs at the Savannah College of Art and Design. While they now live across the country from one another and use different art media, they are connected by their desire to create artwork that imitates and celebrates nature. Everything in the universe comes from the same source - there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between our spiritual and physical planes that transcends into all facets of being. "As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth."

Nicole’s 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. “I started dyeing paper with indigo to cope with my grandmother’s decline from Alzheimer’s disease. While I watched her mental state fade away, her spark would emerge when she sang the Army Air Corps chant, “Off we go into the wild blue yonder”. I felt a calling to capture that blue yonder through art and create a refuge not only for her, but my psyche as well. My new body of work holds true to this sentiment, but has a new approach to resisting change and how projecting anxiety changes your environment.”

Nicole’s paintings have been shown in galleries, corporate institutions and private collections throughout the world including: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami and London. Nicole currently lives and works in Seattle, WA.

LYNX contemplates nature by way of repetition. The repeated gesture of making millions of small tally marks with a ballpoint pen is a reflection of our existence. This body of work combines simplicity and discipline while eliminates everything that is not essential in order to capture life's most profound energy and rhythm. “Each day I make a million tally marks with ballpoint pen. Each tally mark represents a breath. When you breathe, you are alive. This is a reminder to oneself to live in each moment.”

LYNX was born in Dong Thap, Vietnam in 1985. He and his family moved to the United States in 1993. Lynx focuses most of his effort on drawing, especially marks making, as a tool for self-discipline. Currently, LYNX lives and works in Atlanta, GA.

New Paintings & My Upcoming Show in Nashville

April 19, 2022

I recently completed a new series of indigo paintings inspired by the phrase “as above, so below” and several of the pieces will be in my show on May 14th at Modfellows Gallery with Lynx Nguyen! I am honored to be sharing this new series alongside Lynx. We met while I was at SCAD in 2015 and he has been an inspiration ever since. Lynx’s work is comprised of one million tally marks with ballpoint pen on paper using a drill and sitting for extended periods of time. Each tally mark represents a breath and the discipline of making the work is a matter of focusing on how to make each breath count. I see so many parallels in our work - be it the connection between the spiritual and physical planes, the minimal color palettes or our journeys towards staying present.

I dive deeper into the meaning behind each of my series below , but if you are interested in learning more, please contact Modfellows Gallery for information and pricing.

“As Above, So Below”

*That Which Has Been*, 2022, Framed: 63.5” x 49.5” | Unframed: 58” x 44”, Indigo on paper with gold embroidery thread

Everything in the universe comes from the same source - there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between our spiritual and physical planes that transcends into all facets of being. "As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth."

I started dyeing paper with indigo to cope with my grandmother’s decline from Alzheimer’s disease. While I watched her mental state fade away, her spark would emerge when she sang the Army Air Corps chant, “Off we go into the wild blue yonder”. I felt a calling to paint that blue yonder and create a refuge not only for her, but for my psyche as well.

*As in Heaven, So on Earth*, 2022, Framed: 63.5” x 49.5” | Unframed: 58” x 44”, Indigo, rain water and dirt on paper with gold embroidery thread

A New Take

My new body of work holds true to this sentiment, but looks more at resisting change and how anxiety shifts your environment. I recently moved to Seattle and have been struggling with the volatile weather (the physical plane). While making this series, I felt angry and powerless to nature as the rain, wind and cold often “destroyed” what I was making. I realized that these anxieties were only becoming more apparent as the season progressed and everything I was projecting was manifesting before me in the work. Once I embraced the elements as part of the process, I became more at peace.

*Return Again*, 2022, Unframed: 58” x 44”, Indigo on paper with gold embroidery thread

*Fera Space LXIV*, 2022, 44” x 30”, Indigo on paper with bookbinding thread

*Fera Space LXV*, 2022, 30” x 22”, Indigo on paper

Red & Black

The red flashe “Automatic” series and white “Untitled Spaces” are from different periods in my life, but pull from these same emotions. The “Automatic” pieces address the environmental stress of California’s wildfires and ties it with female vulnerability. I drew the parallel while I was running along a trail and became panic-stricken as I reimagined all the warnings of what can happen to a girl who runs alone or at night. As I realized I was projecting my fears onto the landscape, I became aware of the reality of this same landscape surrendering to the wildfires ravaging California.

Glacier Series

The black and white drawings are also inspired by climate change and are derived from images of glaciers combined in Photoshop and then translated on paper. When a glacier melts, it buckles, heaves and cries. Their cries remind me of places I have visited in my own despair and reminded me of how everything is, and always will be, connected.

The yonder my grandmother would sing about is the same yonder I can construct within myself or out in nature. These planes all exist as one and when we find harmony within ourselves, the universe sings in unison with us.

Interview with Not Real Art

December 29, 2021

I had the absolute pleasure of interviewing with Morgan Laurens at Not Real Art and talk about embracing flaws in my work, sustaining an “inner forest of wisdom,” and the importance of trusting your gut in uncertain situations. You can read the full article below or at the link here!

Unrequited Leisure Flag Installation

December 06, 2021

I’m excited to share my flag installation with Unrequited Leisure that will be flying outside of the Packing Plant in Nashville for the month of December. The flag is unfixed indigo dye on cotton and I will be documenting how the piece changes over the month, which you can follow along on my Instagram.

Reflecting on changing times

When life feels overwhelming, my mother always says, “this too shall pass”. The saying has become rather loaded for me - on one hand, it is a reminder that the dark times will be behind you, but on the other, it reminds us that our memories will someday fade.

The phrase has been on loop for me recently, as I have been struggling with change and feeling secure. My December flag pays homage to my current transitional state and represents the fleeting nature of our existence. Created using indigo dye on cotton, the piece is meant to change over the course of the volatile winter weather. It will eventually tatter, shrink, bleed and fade away. Yet in spite of being less equipped for this environment, it will still fly. It may look different, but perhaps by weathering the storms, it will become even more beautiful.

My hope is that the flag offers solace to those passing by and reminds them that all of our experiences, both good and bad, accumulate to create a beautiful existence.