"Tormented" Painting

Nathalie Gribinski is a French-American artist based in Chicago whose work spans painting, drawing, illustration, and visual storytelling. For more than three decades, she has developed a rich and distinctive body of work characterized by vibrant color, dynamic compositions, and evolving visual languages.

Among the most recognizable of these languages are the Tourlicoulis, a world of forms, symbols, and characters that originated from a word invented by her brother and gradually evolved into a visual vocabulary of its own. Through recurring motifs, expressive line work, and bold color relationships, Gribinski creates paintings that explore communication, connection, humor, harmony, and emotional depth.

Born in Algiers and raised in France, Gribinski studied law in Paris before moving to Chicago, where she earned a degree in Graphic Design from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in private collections in the United States and Europe. In 2015, Christine Ruiz Picasso acquired one of her Tourlicoulis works, recognizing the originality of the visual language she had developed.

Whether working through abstraction, symbolism, or the evolving world of the Tourlicoulis, Gribinski continues to create paintings that invite discovery and celebrate the unexpected connections between forms, colors, and ideas.