PaintingsDIRECT:
The Texas landscape, where you grew up and continue to live, appears in much of your work. How has being a Texan influenced your art?
Michael Nicolaou:
Being a Texan has influenced my art very much. Texas is wide open with lots of land, yet most of the houses in the cities and suburbs are very close to each other. In my landscapes I mostly paint wide open spaces due to the claustrophobia I feel. One painting in particular, My Cabin Getaway, deals with this issue. In the painting I am in a wide open space, Dallas is in the background, and my cabin is floating on a stick and is impossible to get to. See the painting named The Claustrophobic Ranch and the series of faces and noses I painted. The noses represent invasion of personal space as well as "nosy" people who don't mind their own business.
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My Cabin Getaway (2001)
Michael Nicolaou
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Constructing a Family (1999)
Michael Nicolaou
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PaintingsDIRECT:
You've mentioned you were adopted. How did this factor into your turning to art and deciding to become a professional artist?
Michael Nicolaou:
I really don't think being adopted was a factor in turning to art as a profession, although it did give me some influence before I found my birth mother. Now I can appreciate life more and not take things for granted. I have been blessed to be raised by my wonderful adopted family as well as enjoying the experience of meeting the person who gave me life. Sometimes adopted children, such as me, go through an "identity crisis" as young adults. I must say in the long run the experiences I have had as an adopted child have afforded me the opportunity to nurture my individual self and spirit.
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PaintingsDIRECT: You indicate that many of your works stem from your imagination. How does this affect your artistic process?
Michael Nicolaou:
My imagination helps my artistic process as a guide from the start of a painting to the finish when I paint landscapes or abstracts. This does not apply when doing portraits or realism of course. When I get an idea for a painting I write it down and sketch it if I can. Usually when I paint I get inspired for another painting and I immediately start working on it. Working on two to four paintings at the same time is not rare for me.
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Work in Progress (1993)
Michael Nicolaou
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Carrots (2005)
Michael Nicolaou
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PaintingsDIRECT:
We have on the site your series of works with a single fruit or vegetable as the subject. Why this choice of subject?
Michael Nicolaou:
To me a fruit is like a flower, beautiful in its prime which is short so it must be admired. I captured the fruits and vegetables as they look in the prime of life. Just like we humans must savor life while we have it since our stay here is so short. While painting the fruit series from digital photos I had taken from stills, the fruit which was already dead began to deteriorate. I thought about painting a series about that subject matter as well, opening up ideas for man versus nature and life/death.
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PaintingsDIRECT:
How has your work and artistic style evolved over time?
Michael Nicolaou:
Thankfully I was turned down when I applied to the University of
Texas Masters program in painting, as I believe it might have ruined my life as a painter. I call them the "communist art school" as they expect artists to paint one style and one style only. To me that would be equivalent to eating the same thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the rest of your life. Painting for me stems from feelings of life. Seasonal changes are also a big factor in my influence and style as well as music.
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Dali's "Yin Yang" (2004)
Michael Nicolaou
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The Dead Three Musicians (2001)
Michael Nicolaou
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PaintingsDIRECT:
Of famous artists, living or deceased, who have most inspired you or influenced your work, and in what ways?
Michael Nicolaou:
Good question, I had a problem being influenced even on the subconscious level in my earlier stages of painting back in the 1980's. A
major influence is Salvador Dali, who was a master painter because he could paint like the masters and manage to maintain his own style. I have reproduced many Dali and Rene Magritte paintings which has led me to where I am now as an artist. The problem I had from being so influenced was trying to find my own style. I call it finding my "Chuck Close" as his method of painting inspires me to keep painting as well.
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View more artworks by Michael Nicolaou ...
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