Nicole Askari’s artistic practice is informed by more than 20 years as a designer and creative director. Beginning with studies in interior design and architecture before moving into graphic design, she developed a deep appreciation for proportion, color, rhythm, composition, and materiality. Alongside design, she has drawn continual inspiration from fashion, architecture, modernism, and the visual language of everyday objects. Together, these influences have shaped a practice rooted in structure while leaving room for expression.

Music has always been the thread connecting Nicole’s creative life and beyond; listening, collecting, studying, and sharing music across genres. Each of her creations begin with a body of music that has profoundly influenced her and the broader cultural landscape. Working primarily in sheetrock, she builds richly tactile surfaces through impasto and bas-relief techniques, creating compositions that invite shifting light, shadow, and perspective. Modernist principles, including Bauhaus design, influence her work, while organic forms show the spontaneity of the music that inspired it.

Her hope is that her creations offer viewers an experience similar to discovering a favorite record.

Stereolab’s 1997 album Dots and Loops

It’s about finding beauty in the details, layers, discovery. It’s a reminder that the most meaningful experiences aren’t always the loudest…they’re often built one layer at a time.