The latest chapter in Nic Joly’s visual narrative, aptly titled The Writing’s On The Wall , harnesses the public candour of street art within the refinement and safe space of fine art. Balancing stylised subtlety with inarguably bold – at times, didactic-instruction, Nic delivers again with his recognisable punch of humour. Track back through Nic’s previous collections, and whilst the subject matter has varied tremendously throughout, his message has remained resolute and unchanging: speak aloud that which you only dare to think. Nic urges us, through his miniaturist world, to strive for authenticity in how we relate to those around us. He muses: “ All collections learn from their predecessors – what has gone before shapes and influences what comes next. ” Indeed, the lineage of this collection is clear to see: One Day I’ll Be Big, his debut collection, seems now prophetic; Light & Dark gave us Nic’s first foray into wordplay; Being Human addressed the flaws that make us who we are, and Life’s A Carnival gently urged us not to waste energy fighting the madness around us, but to embrace it. Much like the graffiti we all walk past on a daily basis, Nic uses the art that hangs on the walls of his collectors’ homes to bring his message into the public forum. It is both a means of broadcasting the lessons he’s learned (some, in arguably the hardest of ways), as well as a
constant affirmation to stay busy, keep positive and trust in the intent of others to do likewise. In his typically truthful style, we are taken into Nic’s confidence in viewing ‘The Black Dog’, a name famously coined by Winston Churchill to characterise the darker periods he experienced. This resonated with Nic, particularly that an individual renowned for his strength of character and robust leadership could ever be susceptible, about which he says: “For those of us who suffer this affliction, I wanted to create a reminder that we can keep The Dog at bay, no matter how big he seems sometimes.” The Writing’s On The Wall represents somewhat of a milestone, as Nic calculates he is approaching the 10,000 hour mark since he began to work full time as an artist. He says: “I never thought that the work I’m doing now, would one day be my career.” Beginning his working life in a jewellery workshop at the age of eighteen, Nic later progressed to crafting handmade furniture before his hobby for creating tiny people slowly metamorphosed from something adored by his children, to an art form in its own right. Addressing his self-titled ‘wilderness years’, Nic now commits to making up for the time lost and, to him, what better and more validating than to have something tangible to show at the end of the day: “I’ve always been a ‘maker’. I love the skill of teasing something from nothing; it’s f*****g alchemy!”
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