A photograph of a mouth becomes a wool rug; a chocolate bar becomes a bronze ingot. Michelle Nikou’s alchemical transformations often turn around hunger and sustenance. She uses a wide range of everyday materials but seems especially drawn to objects like cups and plates, buckets and shoes—to vessels. Many of her works feel like they could be filled and emptied again; like Nikou has captured them at one point in a cycle.
My creative nonfiction piece on Michelle Nikou’s practice is now online. I’m thankful for the opportunity to spend time with this work & take some risks in trying to capture that experience on the page.
Jane O'Sullivan 