Nicky Hirst lives and works in London. Her practice is best described as an exploration of serendipity or taking advantage of the unplanned. Her output is multifarious, including sculpture, collage, printed text, public art and photography. She was appointed as Election Artist for the 2019 General Election by the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art, and the resulting artwork will form part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. She is currently co-editor of MASS Sculpture Magazine and a mentor on the TURPS/ MASS correspondence course. Nicky studied Fine Art at Maidstone College of Art followed by Art and Architecture at KIAD, Canterbury.
About the work I have an ongoing series called Elemental Works, which are visually paired images. They started life elsewhere, second hand, borrowed from magazines and books. The found images are my medium and once removed from their original context they become forms and colours to work with. Each image becomes an element that has the potential to be paired with another element. I feel the shapes of the diptych rather than think them. A chronological archive can be found on Instagram @nickyhirst_elementalworks
The twelve new works shown at MOCA_WE are a combination of my own photographs and images I have photographed from books. The pairings create as yet unspoken narratives, each with its own internal logic and visual poetry. The new dialogues inevitably reflect my current emotions; thoughts and interests, whilst still remaining wide open to interpretation.
I have created twelve new works for MOCA_WE. They were made during February 2021. Scrolling through my archive of photographs I select and pair unrelated images. The works are digital with the potential to be printed.
All images copyright and courtesy of the Artist Nicky Hirst is represented by Domobaal www.domobaal.com
