About Me
Hello! My name is Nicole DiSalvo, and I'm an upcoming artist who's planning on majoring in Communication Arts at VCU. My work mostly consists of figure focused subjects but I have some experience with learning Graphic Design as well. I'm from the US but have also spent some years living in Germany and Hong Kong. I am biracial, half white and half Angolan who knows a little Portuguese, but I mainly speak English. My artistic strengths are in 2D design, figure drawings, character creations, and mainly using mediums such as graphite and charcoal or digital mediums such as Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, Photoshop, Adobe Illustrate, and Adobe InDesign. I also have some experience in creating comics, for mostly personal explorations.
Artist Statement
In my visual artwork the stories tend to revolve around the human experiences that I either relate to or I observe from the world around me. These experiences are intrinsically linked to the daily emotions that one feels as expressions of said emotions, and the process of creating tone
In my visual artwork the stories tend to revolve around the human experiences that I either relate to or I observe from the world around me. These experiences tend to depict small events such as drinking coffee or someone running, with the purpose of highlighting a focus on the emotions and tone of the piece. By using subtle artistic choices such as emphasizing contrasts and using emotive colors, I aim to emphasize a narrative told in my artwork. A person drinking coffee becomes a person revitalized through a sip, and a person running becomes a person being chased by some unseen terrifying thing. Having started with only my hands as my medium, I have explored other mediums and now bring my characters to life through digital forms. For me, digital media has boundless possibilities and malleability. Though I sometimes miss the absence of unpredictability of more traditional mediums, remembering their characteristics informs my digital thought process.
I explore the human form because of the narrative that can be communicated through a quirk of the mouth, a flick of the wrist, or an arc of the spine. The design of a person’s physical presence relays information about them without using any words. It’s fascinating. My depiction of the human form ranges from being derived from life to being influenced by cartoons, anime, and animation. I use stylization to help emphasize the narratives of illustrations, which is why through stylized figures I tell my stories.
I hope that through my art, through my narratives, I can create connection and relatability–that someone will see a reflection of themself in the mirror of my work, or find delight in simply being entertained.