My work exists at the intersection of mixed media, abstract art, and collage, drawing deep inspiration from primitive arts and ethnographic traditions. I’m captivated by the dialogue between colors and shapes—how certain compositions strike us as beautiful and harmonious while others feel discordant. This fascination drives every piece I create, as I continuously seek that delicate balance where visual elements sing together in perfect unity.
While collage remains my primary medium, I’m equally drawn to textile work, crafting both figurative dolls and abstract fabric pieces. This process is deeply intuitive; I gather materials and let them guide me toward compositions that resonate with joy and completeness. My fabric works often incorporate beads, handmade paper beads, found ribbons, discovered objects, and crocheted elements—each addition carefully considered for its contribution to the whole.
Sustainability shapes my practice fundamentally. I work almost exclusively with recycled and upcycled materials: salvaged books, vintage magazines, discarded posters, worn clothing, children’s abandoned drawings, ticket stubs, receipts, and various ephemera that others might discard. I rarely purchase new supplies, preferring to breathe new life into forgotten materials alongside my own handpainted papers.
One of my most cherished projects involves creating soft fabric-covered art journals—typically one or two for myself annually, plus several for friends and collectors. These journals marry my love of textiles with my collage practice. I construct them from found papers, paper bags, and deconstructed books, then sew covers from fabric scraps or my own fused plastic made from repurposed bags and packaging.
Each journal becomes a landscape of varied textures and papers. I approach them non-linearly, selecting pages that speak to me in the moment, often returning to earlier pages to layer, transform, or completely reimagine them. Even my typography becomes part of the composition, as I strive to create harmonious arrangements when adding titles or quotes.
The Necessity of Creation
Creating art isn’t optional for me—it’s as essential as food, water, or breath. I’ve learned this through painful experience. When I convinced myself I had no time for art (a self-sabotage I still occasionally slip into), allowing other activities to crowd out my creative practice, I became fundamentally unhappy. The longer I avoided making art, the more I felt disconnected from an essential part of myself that requires constant nurturing and attention.
Without regular creative practice, I become blocked in all areas of life. Energy stops flowing, new thoughts refuse to emerge, and I grow irritable and depressed. This presents a genuine challenge while juggling two children, full-time work, household responsibilities, and other commitments. Too often, I find myself wandering the house, discovering endless tasks that suddenly seem urgent—anything to avoid sitting down to create.
Learning to prioritize art and maintain consistent practice remains an ongoing struggle. It was particularly difficult when my children were younger, but as they’ve grown more independent, I’ve found slightly more breathing room to honor this essential part of myself.
The Transformative Power of Art
Being an artist brings me into balance—with myself and the world around me. Making art provides sacred time and space to process experiences, develop new ideas, and escape daily routines. But there’s something almost magical that happens during creation, a awakening of the unconscious that generates better results in both my work and life, sparking ideas that ripple into other domains.
Art reveals the interconnectedness of everything. It holds my life together, making it richer and more complete. This creative process enables me to show up fully each day, to help others, contribute meaningfully to the world, and play my part in making this planet a better place.
What Drives My Work
The pursuit of beauty and harmony captivates me endlessly. There’s an exquisite moment in every creative process when I discover the perfect composition or ideal color relationship—that instant when something becomes truly satisfying to behold. Even though beauty remains subjective, that dopamine rush of creating visual delight never loses its power.
The poetry of randomness fascinates me—how disparate elements can coexist within a single composition, maintaining their individual character while forming unexpected unity. My work reflects the world as I perceive and reshape it: randomly combining incompatible things and discovering their potential harmony. This mirrors life itself, where we must constantly make the best of whatever circumstances we’re given.
Navigating through being stuck has become both my greatest challenge and richest source of material. I’ve wrestled with depression and anxiety throughout my life, only recently learning to navigate these waters without medication, finding ways to resist the pull toward darkness and discover genuine joy and pleasure.
This internal struggle manifests directly in my collages through torn and cut paper pieces that I reassemble, paint over, cut again, and rebuild repeatedly. Sometimes I cycle through this process many times until something clicks into place. Each iteration represents another attempt to work through being stuck, to find a way forward, to transform what feels broken into something whole and beautiful.
If you would like to collaborate or purchase an artwork or a workshop session with me
Please write me an email at ninkkastudio@gmail.com and I will come back to you as soon as possible.
