Clockwise from top left corner:
Periwinkle, 60x56", Acrylic, Spray Paint, House Paint on canvas, 2014;
Artist Materials;
Portrait of Nicole Mueller;
Shape Shifters #3, 72x60", Acrylic, Spray Paint, House Paint on canvas, 2015;
Inside Out 60x56", Acrylic, Spray Paint, House Paint on canvas, 2014;
Shape Shifters #1, 72x60", Acrylic, Spray Paint, House Paint on canvas, 2015;
Shape Shifters #2, 72x60", Acrylic, Spray Paint, House Paint on canvas, 2015
“I am fixated by the spaces between opposites, and with wanting my paintings to be both spontaneous and intentional, exuberant and complex, and everything in between. Reconciling these differences to create something that is “both playful and profound” is what motivates me and inspires my work.”
Nicole Mueller works as a painter in Baltimore, Maryland, making paintings and animations that aim to merge chaos and control into colorful abstractions.
After completing her BFA in painting and illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art, she started an indoor mural business called Blue Lined Designs, focusing on kid-friendly illustration-based designs. She's hand-painted immersive environments for playrooms and children's businesses throughout the Mid Atlantic region and Colorado.
This affinity for cartoon characters and an early interest in animation informs color choices in her own painting. With her personal work, she's built her studio practice by traveling for artist residencies in Argentina, Maryland, and Vermont.
She feels Baltimore though is a city that's especially supportive of emerging artists and creatives, and allows artists to devote time to their studio practice without some of the distractions or space restrictions of other cities.
She views her studio as a lab, for experimentation, research, and most importantly play. Her paintings build upon an abstract visual vocabulary, with attention to surface and process. Using spray paint, squeegees, and a range of other tools, she layers collage-like forms in an intuitive way, that collide with each other and push out of the canvas. Through these formal arrangements, she explores the complexity of relationships between opposites.