Born in Burnley in 1988, Nick hasn’t had the most conventional introduction to the art world. A trained Radiographer, he began to pursue creativity seriously whilst at university where he would fit it around studying and then later around working in Hospital environments. Now no longer working as a Radiographer, Nick has continued to develop his skills through experimentation and self-study, observing and learning from artists both past and present and taking inspiration from the work of others. Nick will also often get flashes of inspiration from music, politics and everyday life and then spend time contemplating and refining these rough sparks into a more concise concept, before ever picking up a brush.

As Nick has developed over several years he has become increasingly interested in the work of artists using realism and symbolism such as Mitch Griffiths in contemporary art and masters such as Caravaggio. The absolute realism of artists like these has not been emulated entirely in his work however, as he has come to favour a looser, almost impressionistic technique in his painting, which he feels promotes movement and lends a dynamic element to his pieces.

In addition, Nick’s work is heavily influenced by the philosophy put forward by the work and writing of the artist Odd Nerdrum.  He is drawn to the idea of using traditional materials and techniques to produce work that takes advantage not only of symbolic motifs, but also of imagery found in cultural archetypes (in particular the Jungian set, such as the mother, the apocalypse, the maiden, the hero and the trickster.) Nick is inspired by how these images, shared across the majority of human cultures, can be worked to transcend boundaries between viewers so that anyone, regardless of their background or education, can find a meaningful response in his work. This is a quality he feels is sometimes sacrificed in modern art in the interest of the admirable struggle for an absolute newness and innovation.