Born in South Africa and currently based in Toronto, Nicole Kagan studied Fine Art at the University of Guelph and Communication Design & Jewellery at OCAD University. Her jewellery designs can be found in several stores & galleries across Toronto and her paintings in private collections in Toronto, Montreal & San Francisco.

Nicole believes that in the external world and in our internal selves, dualities exist, challenging the notion of a single universal truth: above/below, presence/absence, movement/stillness, and the simultaneous directionality of upwards movement and downwards growth, all the more powerful through their juxtaposition. These polarities transcend the black and white, right or wrong ways of thinking that can act as barriers to empathy and compassion.

Blending original photographs with collaged treasures (found papers, vintage dress pattern tissue, rusty scrap metal, barn board, cheesecloth, burlap), incandescent landscapes emerge, allowing a collision of urban and natural elements. All surfaces fascinate Nicole. Whether opaque, translucent, weathered or richly glazed, they are imbued with the life stories of those who have touched or held them, and whatever elements they have endured. These surfaces alternately reveal and hide underlying technological, social or natural structures and processes, creating a dynamic, palpable tension between what lies above and lives below.

More information about Nicole Kagan’s work can be found at www.nicolekaganart.com