Understated domesticity, with a lingering sense of weirdness.
Nikki Maloof brings a whole new take to still life. Fish, food and crockery all have an intentional lack of perspective. By contrast, intensely patterned wallpapers and tablecloths create depth. Together these elements amass into quietly strange domestic scenes. “Equal parts joy and anxiety,” as the artist puts it. Her process is measured but emotion-driven, building images from her imagination. Occasionally she refers to photographs or IRL objects, but "something is lost" if the scenes are “too real,” she says. Initial ideas are developed via sketching and collage, then translated with oil on...
Bio
Nikki Maloof (she/her) was born 1985 in Peoria, United States. She now lives and works in the countryside of Massachusetts, United States.
Peers
Painter Barry Gealt, Maloof's undergrad tutor, had a big influence on her practice – along with artist Danielle Orchard, a good friend. She’s also worked in Peter Halley’s studio in New York. “The energy of the artists I have gotten to know here is infectious. I feel lucky to be a part of my community of painters.”
Poetry
Poet Elizabeth Bishop “totally changed my world,” says Maloof. “There’s something about the compression within a poem. The multiple angles that you can look at it. The lack of concrete ‘meaning’ within a poem opened me up to looking at painting in the same way.”