Melissa Nickols

My work investigates the optical and philosophical effects of repetition and close observation. I combine digital manipulation, laser-cutting and manual techniques on a base of post-consumer waste cardboard to create tensions between abstraction and representation. The resulting aesthetic brings together contrasting methods and materials: the care invested in hand crafting, the precision of the laser cutter, the material quality and variability of brush strokes, and the mass-produced perfection of everyday factory-produced packaging. By looking closely at ordinary things and multiplying their abstract effects, I explore the human-made structures around us.