Nicola Higgins (b. 1975) delves into the profound intricacies of the female figure, self-portraiture, and the interplay between the digital and physical realms. Her artistic journey is deeply personal, rooted in her intimate connection with her own body and identity. Higgins’ fascination with the female form is not merely an aesthetic choice, but an exploration of self—a way to connect with and understand her own existence within her body.

Her early years were marked by a preference for solitude. As a child, Higgins found solace in drawing, an activity that allowed her to express herself—a backdrop that influenced her creative path. This introspective nature is evident in her preference for painting lone figures, which she finds more relaxing and conducive to her reflective process. 

The act of painting, for Higgins, is an extension of her inner world, and a means to craft emotion into tangible form. Intricate, layered compositions serve as the foundation for her oil paintings. Higgins offers a seamless blend of reality and illusion, creating an introspective world. She represents women in the digital age, intrigued by the artificiality and illusion inherent in curating online personas, and questions the authenticity of our digital identities and the masks we wear online. 

Higgins deftly observes our very human tendency to curate and portray different versions of ourselves, embodying these personas as varied characters we subconsciously play. Through an intuitively feminine dialogue, Higgins draws on a personal fascination with the female form through an inherited appreciation of craft and dressmaking passed down from her mother. She uses various techniques to create her subjects, including digital manipulation to develop her female figures. To be naked is to be seen. She portrays the closeness of her subjects while hinting at the complex acts of disguise, curation, and reality distortion that lies behind the cultivation of our digital selves.

Higgins completed a Bachelor of Fine Art majoring in Painting at National Art School in 2023. Her work has been included in multiple group exhibitions including the 2024 Nanda\Hobbs group show, People, 2022 Xmas Group Show at Mars Gallery, Melbourne, The Grad Show, National Art School Gallery 2022, and Fleurt, Saint Cloche Gallery in 2015. Higgins has been selected as a finalist in The Mosman Art Prize, The Waverley Art Prize, The Lethbridge 20000 Small Scale Art Award, The Naked and Nude Art Prize, The Hornsby Art Prize and The Doyles Art Award. Most notably, she is a 2024 Archibald Prize finalist at the Gallery of New South Wales.