Welcome!
I'm Nikol Wikman, an abstract painter based in Victoria, BC. I paint colourful, layered work in acrylic, graphite, and charcoal. Florals, landscapes, and pure abstraction. I've been doing it for over fifteen years now, and it still brings me as much joy as it did at the very beginning.
My paintings have found homes with collectors across five continents and are represented at The Gallery at Mattick's Farm here in Victoria. Increasingly, my work is being placed in homes by interior designers across Canada and the US, which still feels a little surreal in the best way.
A little of how I got here
I painted as a kid, the way most kids do….then I let it slip the way most adults do. After my son was born, in a quiet, isolating season of early motherhood, I felt myself losing touch with something I couldn't quite name. So I bought some canvas, dug out my old supplies, and started painting again. That changed everything.
Those early days, I painted in stolen moments, adding layers at the kitchen table while the babies slept, or late into the evening when the world was quiet. As they grew, so did my art. I carved out a tiny space off our our kitchen and turned it into my studio. There was no room for an easel so I painted on the top of our rolling dishwasher. The halls of our home were full of canvases leaned against walls. The kitchen might have been clean but there was always and artsy mess somewhere.
Eventually we moved into the house we live in today. Now I have a whole room for a studio! It’s nice to be able to shut the door on the mess but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t sometimes miss the days of being able to add a quick stroke of paint whenever the thought hit me.
I love to paint big. I work intuitively, across several canvases at once, using brushes, sponges, rollers, and my hands to play with the paint. Some pieces come together in an afternoon. Others sit in the studio for weeks or even months before they feel complete.
What I'm always reaching for is something hard to name. A mood, a kind of brightness, the feeling of a really good day. Painting, for me, is how I keep finding it. My hope is that wherever a piece of mine ends up, it brings a little of that same feeling into the room.
Alongside the studio practice, I've had the joy of teaching thousands of students worldwide through my online classes. Helping someone find the fun and joy in painting never gets old. So if you're here to create as well as collect, you're more than welcome. There's room for both.
Thanks for being here. Whether your painting finds you tomorrow or in a year from now, I'm so glad you came.
Artist Statement
I paint to chase a feeling. The lift of a really good summer afternoon. The first sun after weeks of grey. The way Friday feels before a wide open weekend with nowhere to be.
Working in acrylic with graphite and charcoal, I build my paintings layer by layer. Bold colour, texture, and marks that come from brushes, sponges, rollers, and my own hands. I paint intuitively, often across several canvases at once, letting each piece tell me what it wants to be. Some come together in an afternoon. Others sit in the studio for weeks before the last mark goes down.
My work doesn't set out to depict a specific subject so much as to hold a feeling. Florals blooming out of layers of paint. Landscapes loose enough that the horizon could be anywhere. Abstracts built from colour and movement and the energy of a really good day in the studio.
Underneath all of it is a belief I've lived my way into. That beauty and joy are always worth seeking, even in the hardest seasons. That a painting can be a daily reminder of that on a wall. That art belongs in the rooms where life actually happens.
My hope is that wherever my paintings go, they take a little of that feeling with them.
