At sit eleifend efficiendi, utroque forensibus vel eu. Eros mandamus ad nam. Ad natum virtute pro, dicit scripserit nec cu et qui dicat.

Follow me:
Tw        Be        Fb        Pin

Nick Bodoin

My goal is to explore portraiture in unconventional ways, blurring the lines between painting and sculpture by incorporating different mediums, materials and techniques acquired from various sources over the years of my creative development. I want to create in a way that inspires others to step out of traditional techniques, to create freely, to take painting out of the box.

My portraits pay homage to the human gaze, a glimpse of beauty and inner strength. I find a strong gaze or a piercing gaze captivating to observe and paint. To capture the soul, I strive to infuse as much emotion and life into my work as possible.

I am inspired by both my small town origins and my current urban reality. Both worlds are reflected in my art, my style and the choice of materials. When I moved to the prosperous city, the universe opened up to me and I discovered a rich, diverse and artistic world that I had never known. This diversity was comforting and inspiring and strongly influenced my art.

At the same time, I draw my inspiration from the manual labor, carpentry and woodworking that surrounded me when I grew up in a rural area. It permeated my art just as much as the museums, design and fine arts I experienced in the city. I really found my voice and my style as an artist when I merged these two worlds and developed my own unique approach to art which is my “sculptural paintings”.

The whole process of my art, the cutting and superposition of this rigid and raw material and the transformation it undergoes to become an object with more color, flexibility and delicacy is in a way the reflection of my own evolution. I fell in love with this material because of its imperfections: it’s rough around the edges but ready to be transformed, and I see myself in it and the art that results from using it.

Over the years of experimentation I added more transparency and shading, wood became more and more central to the medium and the pieces evolved to become more intricate and sculptural. My current style and materials come together to create a balance between the raw and the refined, the raw and the complex. In a way, it’s both fine art and woodworking.

My art and my life are also heavily influenced by hip hop, as evidenced by my subjects and the boldness of my style. These artists taught me to be myself without shame through the confidence, power and energy of their music. I celebrate these artists in my work, and the theme of rappers and musicians because I am inspired by their stories, their art. They give me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and pursue my wildest dreams.