Nickerson, Duane

Duane Nickerson is an award-winning, internationally recognized Canadian artist who lives and works in a forest in Nova Scotia, Canada. His decades-long exhibition record is testament to a rigorous studio practice using archival materials. Nickerson’s work is known for classical technique combined with a contemporary, expressive approach to composition. His paintings reside in public and private collections around the world.

Artist Statement

My paintings reference the tradition of landscape painting, a long and varied practice that extends to the dawn of human civilization. The uninhabited and untrammelled landscape is a key facet of Canadian identity, and has a distinctive relevance in this age of global environmental degradation.

I believe that the natural world is a source of meaning and an effective antidote to the anxieties of an age preoccupied with computer driven, screen-based stimulus. Spending time walking among trees in the forest enhances my life. I feel an emotional bond with the sensory matrix that unfolds in the forest. The smell, the complex textures, the sound of the wind in the trees create a fully immersive, healing experience.

As a landscape painter, my intention is to explore a sense of being through careful study of natural forms shaped by time. Being, from my vantage point, involves sensing and accepting the presence of eternity behind the veil of physical forms; becoming more aware of the delicate dance of life and death that creates the beauty of the natural world we inhabit.