The Place and the Unplace

The Place and the Un-Place: Memories of Memories. This exhibit is based on Nicole's series of imagined landscapes. These emotionally charged but ambiguous images of places are based on her memories, as they get further and further removed from reality. Parts of the landscapes shift and become their own active subject, playing, moving and breaking away.


In these paintings Nicole worked entirely from memories of places or imagined spaces. She took very general mental notes on color and light when outside and take all of these thoughts to the canvas. Her goal is to recreate a place she felt she was at, but can’t quite remember, a place that is not a single moment but a compilation of different memories stretching forward and backwards.
Spending enough time here with what is real and what is not real causes leads to a feeling of déjà vu. Were you there before? It feels real but it is hard to say. Did I just imagine this? Strange things happen here in these imagined landscapes.
These paintings are both places and un-places. A memory of a place almost lost. Misremembered. Imagined.
“Memory is a tough place. You were there. If this is not the truth, it is also not a lie.” – Citizen: An American Lyric