CURRENT EXHIBITION
Grounded in the Lost and Found
An exhibition by Audrey Nicoll
July 25th to August 17th
This series of drawings is a quiet, personal response to upheaval—both global and deeply personal. Rooted in childhood rituals of wandering, collecting, and observing the natural world, these works reflect on the fragile, fleeting nature of life. Created after a time of absence and healing, each drawing is a meditation on decay, resilience, and the grounding act of making—where memory, nature, and meaning meet in stillness.
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Grounded in the Lost and Found Exhibition
In times of upheaval, I turn to the sea or the earth to regain a grounding of body and mind. I grew up wandering through the woods and along the shores observing, drawing, and collecting gifts -the remains of animals, plants, rocks, shells, and whatever would fit into my pockets. These objects became the Lost and Found collection -a somewhat random assemblage that speaks to the cyclical nature of life, the beauty of a form left to decay, and my relationship with the natural world. It serves as a reminder of the fleeting nature of existence and the necessity to pay attention as I move through this life.
My earlier work has dealt with our often destructive relationship with the environment, informed by science, data, and social impact. This series of drawings is a more personal response filled with both joy and sorrow, solitude and communion. The act of drawing is itself a grounding process where one works in the moment connecting hand to paper to relic to meaning, hopefully finding the quieting of the mind translated into image.
I have been absent from my studio for a while. It has been an absence steeped in the fragility of the human body torn by age and illness amidst a global upheaval. The effort to return to the studio became an act of resistance -a desire to find calm and substance. Where slowly the rituals of studio unfolded a body of drawings that evolved from simple portrait to visual elegy. Where each one evokes the resilience of a life lived and quietly renewed. Where I became grounded in the lost and found.
Biography
Audrey Nicoll grew up in Vancouver and moved to the South Shore in 2000 with her artist husband, Bill Marshall. Audrey is a NSCAD and UBC Fine Arts graduate, and her usual studio practice consists of large scale mixed media drawings focused on environmental issues, which she has shown throughout the Maritimes. Her work is in various private collections on both coasts.
She has taught art in the public school system for thirty years starting in Vancouver and recently retiring as the IB Art teacher at Park View Education Centre.