The Beach Party – 4.15pm
Christian Nicolson · 200 × 100 cm
Upcoming exhibition / New Zealand
Christian Nicolson
Christian Nicolson is a New Zealand artist exploring history, nostalgia and the natural world through painting, sculpture, photography and film. His expressive colour, humour and conceptual play draw on coastal life and personal history.
Upcoming exhibition — Dates to be announced.
About the artist
Christian Nicolson
Christian Nicolson (b. 1971) is a New Zealand artist whose multidisciplinary practice explores history, nostalgia, and the natural world around him. Influenced by his coastal upbringing in the 1980s, his work is marked by expressive mark-making, vivid colour, and conceptual play.
Nicolson’s large-scale sculptures and emotive paintings are rooted in freedom, humour, and personal history. A former designer, he brings visual clarity and narrative energy to each piece. Recurring themes include childhood, identity, nudity, sci-fi, and the passage of time.
Christian has a sense of humour and often likes to show that in his work. With a strong exhibition history and works held in public and private collections, Nicolson continues to forge a distinctive, enduring artistic voice.
Artist statement
“I like to be creative. Explore ideas in different ways and different mediums. I have made many sculptures. Made large installations in the landscape. I use photography, paint, screen printing, play in a rock band, I make videos and film. We are all different. This is my way.”
“Do what you enjoy. It’s the best way.”
From design to art
I was a designer for many years until finally I realised this was not really what I was meant to do. So I left the world of art directing ads and magazines and logos and followed a dream that had been nagging me for too long. That is how I love to live my life now. Creating my own work for me in the hope that others may share in what I do. It’s not easy though. Because I still have to eat. Design has always played a pivotal part in what I do and I value this highly. But it’s great when the only client is me.