Nicole Nadeau

a flower by another name (fiberglass_01, fiberglass_02, fiberglass_03), 2019
Non-toxic fiberglass, wire and car paint

Artist Statement
“Flower By Another Name” started as a sculptural interpretation of a drawing Nicole Nadeau made as a child, is a conversation between present and past. The fiberglass sculptures, initially studied in ceramic, are the artist’s interpretations of the drawing and her form explorations. Nadeau became interested in the flowers and how they rendered as iconographic symbols in their anthropomorphic form; their gestural postures conveying different personalities. In order to better understand the subconscious messages embedded in the flowers, Nadeau had her twin sister, Coryn Nadeau, a clinical art therapist, psychoanalyze the original drawing using assessment symbology. She suggested the flowers were an abstract representation of the members of Nadeau’s family. Noting we have a capacity for symbolization in art, whereby we unconsciously project transitional objects or the family dyad onto the work.

The artist intention is for the viewer to identify with their own personalities or characteristics in the gestural forms of the varying sculptures.

Nicole Nadeau
a flower by another name (fiberglass_01, fiberglass_02, fiberglass_03), 2019
Non-toxic fiberglass, wire and car paint

Biography
Through a range of mediums, artist Nadeau explores the notions of ritual and identity, even going so far as to ritualize many elements of her practice. Her perspective is influenced by her role as a fraternal twin; granting a heightened awareness of similarity and distinction. Trained in industrial design, her work blends the manufactured with natural materials and techniques to create uncanny installations & sculptures. This implicit tension is indicative of her ongoing work. Informing Nadeau’s study of objects, she implements design language in her art like a tool or material. Nadeau often uses these structures as themes relating to the body & nature, exhibiting their perceived strength and fragility. Nadeau’s heritage of generational craftsmanship makes her a 5th generation maker.

Nicole Nadeau (b. 1984, Cromwell, CT) currently lives between New York and Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Parsons School of Design in 2007, and has studied at Rochester Institute of Technology (2002-2005) and Wesleyan University (1998). Nadeau’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Portraits of Origin, Y Gallery (2012). Her work was included in Tool, at Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum (2014); Design Autopsy, Rochester Institute of Technology (2014); Littlest Sister, Spinello Projects (2015); Spring Break Art Fair NYC (2016, 2020); Fact and Fiction, Spring Break Art Fair LA (2019); site specific installation, Everyone Thought I Was You, Collective Design fair (2016); Velvet Elvis, Christy’s Art Center (2017); Reimagine the Domestic, Salomon Contemporary (2019); and solo show curated by Kyle DeWoody, “A Flower by Another Name”, That That Gallery (2018). Her art objects can be found at The Whitney Museum shop, Hammer Museum shop, The Street & The Shop, and 56 Henry Gallery.