"Being" Artwork

Nicole Schlegel is a Swiss abstract artist whose work brings together material research, intuition, and a deep sensitivity to perception, emotion, and surface.
Born into a family in which artistic creation held lasting significance, she first followed a path through music and technology. She studied jazz in New York — guitar, vocals, piano, and improvisation — and later worked extensively in the tech industry. Alongside these fields, painting remained a continuous presence and gradually became the central form of expression.
A serious car accident in 1992 marked a decisive turning point in her life. After two decades of dedicated painting, Nicole began presenting her work publicly in January 2022.
Her practice is rooted in experimentation with natural and traditional materials, including lime, marble dust, Carrara sand, egg tempera, casein, oil, pigments, and lime sinter water. Drawing on the traditions of fresco and secco painting, she approaches these techniques with a contemporary sensibility and a growing ecological awareness.
Nicole’s work moves between colour intensity and radical reduction. Some pieces are layered, tactile, and process-driven; others are quiet, minimal, and precise. Across both directions, the work remains guided by material behaviour, perception, and the subtle emotional resonance that can emerge through colour, texture, light, and restraint.
Her current artistic research focuses increasingly on environmentally conscious and non-toxic ways of working, seeking a painting practice that respects both material integrity and ecological responsibility.