ART
interview by OLIVIER ZAHM
portrait and studio photos by ALEX MOORE
artwork by NICOLAS PARTY
there’s a vibrating, cosmetic aspect to the swiss-born artist nicolas party’s enigmatic portraits and landscapes in bright, saturated pastels. but, like love, there’s also a dark side, inspired by sottobosco, the flemish tradition of capturing the forest ground, where light doesn’t hit. all sorts of creatures emerge.
OLIVIER ZAHM — Nicolas, do painting and your artistic practice change the way you see our crazy planet?
NICOLAS PARTY — I think an art practice often has a slower rhythm than the cadence of the world. My paintings are not a direct reaction to current events. It’s often the opposite, in a way — what I’m looking for when I paint is to escape from the constant sound of the world around me. What I’m expecting of the experience of an artwork is very…