Nicola Taylor was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1984. She began studying painting in Florence, Italy at the Scuola Lorenzo De Medici in 2003. For the next three years she studied a B. Comm. PPE at the University of Cape Town and worked on various commissions. She then moved to London to studying painting at The Art Academy. Taylor Graduated with a first in July 2009. While in London she exhibited at Art in Action, at The Art Academy Graduate Show 2009 and at the Royal Institute as part of a charity auction. Taylor tutored evening painting classes at The Art Academy for the duration of studies; she states that this teaching experience was integral to her own education and artistic process. In July of 2009 Taylor was selected as a resident artist of Tower Bridge. She was located in a studio at the top of the bridge, where she painted the views of London for six weeks. The residency was followed by a show in Tower Bridge. Taylor returned to South Africa at the end of 2009 to begin a new body of work for a solo show in Aug 2010.
‘What makes me want to paint is always the same; it is a kind of beauty I see in everyday life. I strive to paint this beauty because for me, seeing it reaffirms our common experience.
This beauty is most evident when the possible greatness of people, or the passive power of nature is revealed. For me there is nothing more potent than the true and honest understanding of another person, whether it be in compassion or admiration. And there is nothing more humbling and empowering than witnessing the delicate, quiet yet monumental force of nature. These two ideas have become my primary subject matter.
I work mainly with oil on canvas, painting figurative subjects but keeping abstract principles in mind. I try to allow the paint to move naturally, making use of unintended effects and elements of chance. I also try to make the marks that are obviously mine disappear so that the image can contain its own life.’
