The artistic process

This painting which represents a famous seascape of the island of Cyprus, was created for the International Autumn Salon in Paphos, Cyprus in 2017. Nicole King is a member of the Salon d’Automne de Paris and as such participates in many exhibitions organized by this historical art fair created in 1903. Recognized as a public utility since 1920, it organizes a prestigious annual meeting on the Champs Elysées in which N.King has participated for ten years with hundreds of artists from around the world.

This diptych speaks to us of the contrast between the fragile and beautiful wild life represented by the water bird and the large plane overhead that flies away releasing a cloud of pollution indicated by smoke painted with vat paper. If oil painting, an ecological gesture that integrates the lived time, is the main technique of Nicole King, she uses a mixture of mixed techniques: here we will also find photo transfer, technology chosen to denounce the polluting human activities (the plane). The eco-artist questions the spectator on the state of our planet and provokes a reflection which, she hopes, will lead to action. Her slogan, which was previously “Two jobs, one challenge, water” has become “Art and ecology, contemplation and action”.

The theme of the painting is vast: the threats to biodiversity represented by the bird, air pollution (represented by the plane and the cloud of smoke behind us) also brings to mind climate change. 70% of seabirds have disappeared in the last sixty years. The viewer is invited to think about the choice of his means of transportation.

Coastal areas (the landscape of Cyprus chosen here) are particularly impacted by human activities.

This diptych was given to the Boarding School of Excellence of Marly at the end of the Artist’s Residence of 2 years, and hung in a perennial way in the big hall.