Bio

Nicole Groot is an award-winning painter who currently resides in Pikeville, TN. Since earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Tennessee Tech University in 2019, she has worked as a muralist, illustrator, and art tutor. Nicole's current body of work comes in unique forms. She cuts her paintings into pieces with a bandsaw or router, giving the artwork a fractured appearance. Deriving these organic shapes from studying the spaces between tree branches, Nicole explores themes of brokenness and resilience using narrative scenes.

Artist Statement

Gazing up at the trees in winter, I don't focus on the branches themselves. I see the spaces between the branches--the thousands of tiny pieces of sky in nature's stained glass window. To me, trees are chocked full of symbolism. I especially love the crooked ones that have weathered the storms of life. Those stark, branching lines somehow worked their way into my art, violently cutting through the paintings and leaving them with a fractured appearance. Cutting up or routing my art feels painful but necessary. I enjoy exploring themes of brokenness and redemption in my work; it is encouraging to be simultaneously honest and hopeful about the world.