Artist to Watch: NIKA FONTAINE

There are artists who seem overrated and there are artists whom you wish you had discovered earlier. Some you would hope had been shown to you earlier. Our artist to watch for today is taken from our “Kreativität”-Issue Selection: Nika Fontaine.

Canadian artist Nika Fontaine presents a wide range of artistic and creative practices, that ranges from classical epic figurative oil painting, to the use of glitter pigments on canvas to create pop color field paintings as well as beautifully crafted ceramic figures and delicate metal plates with engraved stories, blending her own biography with historical and mystical narratives. Fontaine creates these diverse practices in larger series, that she works on simultaneously in her studio in Berlin and Montreal. Her highly skilled craftsmanship is paired with an interest in antique and modern spiritual philosophies, which she herself studies and practices, among them Kabbalah, Hermetism, lucid dreaming, vipassana meditation, Kundalini yoga.
Fontaine’s world on one hand indexes and archives contemporary art’s rising entanglement with animism, theology, and notions of faith. On the other hand, she has a personal and unique way to engage artistically with matter to spiritualize and materialize the metaphysical in works that express concepts of mindfulness and emancipation. She states about her practice: “The timelessness and abilities to break behavior patterns of judgment and self/destruction are what make these ancient philosophies relevant nowadays. This quest for the sublime results in a proactive celebration of the body, mind and soul manifested for the quintessential fulfillment of all. My art should be used as a vehicle to grow and transport oneself to new realms of understanding and sensorial acuteness. I like to consider my path as a parent of alchemical endeavors and witness of an initiatic way.”