ABOUT THE ARTIST
Nikki SF is an accomplished artist and advocate within San Francisco's vibrant artistic communities. She graduated from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and holds a Master’s Degree in Paleolithic Art from Université Lumière in Lyon, France. While living in France for nearly a decade, she taught English and Art History at one of the country’s top-ranked engineering universities. In addition to exhibiting internationally, she has traveled extensively and engaged in humanitarian work in West Africa. In 2024, Nikki completed a spiritual pilgrimage, walking over 600 miles on the Camino del Norte from Bayonne, France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
Now based in San Francisco, Nikki works out of her studio at Hunters Point Shipyard, a decommissioned naval base that houses the country’s largest artist community. She serves on the Board of Directors for The Shipyard Trust for the Arts, the nonprofit supporting the 300+ artists at Hunters Point Shipyard. Passionate about environmental justice, she also serves on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Community Steering Committee for Bayview-Hunters Point.
Her work has been featured at many venues, including Miami Art Week during Art Basel Miami Beach, the de Young Museum, Palm Springs Art Fair, Saks Fifth Avenue, and on the 12,000-square-foot digital billboard in New York City’s Times Square as part of the world’s largest public art fair. Nikki exhibits regularly around the country, and her work can be found in collections across the globe.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is driven by both concept and emotion, unfolding through an intuitive process. I enjoy working in series because it offers the discipline of repetition alongside the freedom to explore new mediums and techniques.
I’m drawn to abstract painting because of its inherent unpredictability and fluidity of the process, and I enjoy the physicality of working on a large scale. I build my own canvases, many of which are larger than I am, allowing the act of painting to become an immersive, physical experience. Each piece evolves over time, with many layers building up the final composition. This layering process compels me to slow down, reflect, and develop patience—an essential part of my practice.
In my monochromatic series, I investigate the balance of light and dark, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. My more vibrant abstract works are often shaped by the environment around me. My studio, located at a decommissioned naval base on the San Francisco Bay, draws me toward themes of water, nature, and the constant change in the landscape—reflections that frequently find their way into my paintings.
Whether I’m working on large-scale pieces or experimenting with new materials, I am continually challenged by, and deeply satisfied with, the act of painting. The process itself is as significant to me as the finished work.
