Meet Nicolette Spear | Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicolette Spear and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicolette, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
I believe when you portray something in art that corresponds to something in the inner human, or the society at large, you create a kind of release or freedom from the oppression that you may be exploring. I do that with oil. I’m trying to create a recognition of pain and then to release it through resonance and beauty. I feel that our technology has advanced very quickly and that our minds cannot keep up with its constant demands for attention and energy. It is my gift to society to provide processing of this new paradigm. I spend countless hours in the studio processing in the most raw way that I know how, putting paint to canvas.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I call our current conflict between technology and nature, “The Dopamine-Hit Era of Human History.” Everyone is looking for their next fix, our brains are being trained that way by the technology that we interact with everyday, most notably, our cell phones.

I am obsessed with creating work that speaks to the time in which I live, that seeks to document a part of history. I Believe that we all follow the natural world. Plants, insects and animals know exactly what to do. Intuition and bliss are not only closely related but the compass for a constructed and disciplined life. For human beings following what moves us, discipline and producing something that will endure the test of time, is the work of art.

The human body is the part of nature that we most directly relate to. Technology makes us feel we are separate from nature; however, ironically, anything we produce is natural because we as human beings are products of nature. I find the human form to be the most fascinating part of our existence. Technology is a paradox that has pulled us away from ourselves. It also in many ways enhances our ability to create. I am interested in this paradox.

My process is that I take high contrast photos in my studio with a single direction light, so that the figures have baroque inspired dramatic highlights and shadows, which to me look more sculptural and highlight the anatomy of the figure. These photographs I use as reference images for my paintings. I start my oil paintings with a gold ground, which recalls the ochre ground of a classical figure painter. Then I sketch a composition involving careful placement of Apps and body parts so that the applications featured have some meaning in their location on the body. For example FaceTune on a face or Grubhub on a stomach. This sketch, directly on the canvas, becomes the underpainting.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
MOCA, Getty Center, Art Bar LA, Venice Beach, Bergamot Station Arts Center, LACMA, The Broad, Griffith Observatory, Hammer Museum, The last Bookstore, The Huntington Library, The Getty Villa.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My dear friend Jamie Mustard and his astonishing book for artists, THE ICONIST. He demystifies getting understanding and pursuit of your work. This book helped me to find my path. It is essential reading for any artist, musician, or other creative wishing to make their way in this oversaturated, overstimulating world of ours!

Website: https://nicolettespear.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nicolettespearart/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicoletteSpearArt/