Nicolette McGuire
I am an artist who walks in wild places. Solitude is important for me. I walk by the sea, the dunes, saltmarshes, waterfalls, the intertidal zone, cliffs and caves. I swim in tidal pools. I sit quietly so that I become invisible and nature begins to move around me.
Walking alone I lose the edges between myself and where I am. I notice both the tiny close up details and the whole land and seascape. I move in and out of them both physically and in my mind. Seeing and holding both. I am immersed, alone, but not. Art, like walking, is an exploration. It can feel euphoric or fearful, is full of choice and accident, decision and procrastination, but essentially discovery. I feel alive.
I take photographs, make sketches, make work on the beach that will wash away, documenting it as it does. I collect objects and experiences. I take home sea smells and sounds. In the studio I make maps in various ways, of the places I have been. I return myself to the feelings of being there. Immersed in the work as I was in the places. Lost in solitude. I make paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptural objects and installations. These groups of work connect and talk to each other. The materials I use, the walks I do, are as important as finished work. I love blue and gold.
I did a Fine Art degree while bringing up my family, taught art and design for many years, started a flag making business and completed an MA Fine Art in 2016.
“Going home now I don’t want to lose this feeling of ease in my body as if the land and sea have come into me,” Susan Griffin. Chorus of Stones 1993
Links: Website https://www.nicolettemcguire.co.uk/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mcguirenicky/