Nicki Mayne
Contemporary figurative artist
Nicki Mayne is a figurative artist based in Sussex, England, working in oil paint and gouache. She has a BA (hons) degree in Fine Art Painting from Kingston University and exhibits widely both in Sussex and nationally. Recent exhibitions include the Mall Galleries and Royal Academy in London and Patchings Art Centre in Nottingham. She is a winner of The Artist Exhibition Award at the 2025 TALP Open 2025.
Nicki's paintings tend to have a personal connection to her life and the people and places around her. She is drawn to drawing and painting the human figure and how we interact with the world around us. The fragility of life is a major thread running through her work, and she is interested in exploring the vulnerabilities and complexities of being human in a changing world. Alongside her artistic practice, Nicki works part-time as a support worker for older people, and finds that the connections she forms and the general problem solving required in this role helps balance her work as an artist.
Working from life is an important part of her practice. Her more narrative driven works begin from life, then develop through her imagination to create believable pictorial worlds. She aims to paint with a light touch, using soft brushwork and subtle colour shifts to create intimate paintings that draw the viewer in. She has been influenced over the years by many painters, including David Bomberg, Lucian Freud and Gwen John.
Nicki's paintings tend to have a personal connection to her life and the people and places around her. She is drawn to drawing and painting the human figure and how we interact with the world around us. The fragility of life is a major thread running through her work, and she is interested in exploring the vulnerabilities and complexities of being human in a changing world. Alongside her artistic practice, Nicki works part-time as a support worker for older people, and finds that the connections she forms and the general problem solving required in this role helps balance her work as an artist.
Working from life is an important part of her practice. Her more narrative driven works begin from life, then develop through her imagination to create believable pictorial worlds. She aims to paint with a light touch, using soft brushwork and subtle colour shifts to create intimate paintings that draw the viewer in. She has been influenced over the years by many painters, including David Bomberg, Lucian Freud and Gwen John.
