Nikki Pelaez

Nikki's works are made with great attention and precision and they create a dreamy, mysterious world. They are often poetic portraits of women, created with different techniques and materials. The works stimulate you on a subconscious level and invite you to admire them up close.

“I like working with materials such as colored ink, charcoal and pastels. The way I work, with many different steps in the process, ensures that it always remains exciting for me. I never know in advance exactly how a work will turn out.

That makes me look forward to every next step. It feels meaningful and satisfying to make something from nothing.”

I want to seduce people with my work, I want them to become curious and take a closer look.

I always like to add something strange to the portraits, for example spiky animals or angular or organic shapes. The line drawing can lead the meaning of the work in a different direction. I also like to tamper with the prevailing ideal of beauty, for example by painting the skin in spots, as if the figure has skin with a strange structure, almost like a fish or another animal. I like to play with familiarity and alienation. I find those kinds of contradictions fascinating. Attraction and repulsion, tenderness and h...

2003-2005 : Teacher of cultural and artistic education (graduated 2005) Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Maastricht, The Netherlands
2003-2004 : Received a subsidy from the Foundation BKVB – Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
1998-2002 : Autonomous visual art (graduated 2002) Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The graduation presentation was nominated for the Gilbert de Bontridder prize and finished in second place.

Exhibitions last ten years:
2023 : Group presentation - PAN Amsterdam - Contemporary Art Fair November - Gallery Huub Hannen - Amsterdam - The Netherlands
2023 : Group show - Bodytalk - September until December - Museum de Domijnen Sittard – The Netherlands
2022 : Group show - Gallery Wilms 15 years - Gallery Wilms – Venlo – The Netherlands
2022 : Group presentation - KunstRAI - Art Amsterdam – Contemporary Art Fair – Gallery Huub Hannen – Amsterdam – The Netherlands
2021 : Group show - Das Glück Dieser Erde - Gallery Am Dom - Bad Soden am Taunus - Germany
2021 : Group show - Wanderlust - Gallery Wilms – Venlo – The Netherlands
2021 : Artwork Campagne Image 2021 - Opera Spanga – The Netherlands
2020 : Group show – Amuse Art - Gallery Wilms – Venlo – The Netherlands
2020 : Artwork Campagne Image 2020 - Opera Spanga – The Netherlands
2019 : Solo show - Museum Valkenburg - Valkenburg aan de Geul – The Netherlands
2019 : Trio show - Von Menschen und Tieren - Gallery Artlantis / Gallery am Dom - Bad Homburg - Germany
2019 : Group presentation - KunstRAI - Art Amsterdam – Contemporary Art Fair – Gallery Huub Hannen – Amsterdam – The Netherlands
2018 : Group presentation - KunstRAI - Art Amsterdam – Contemporary Art Fair – Gallery Huu...