Niki Cotton

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my process whilst not doing much physical art at the moment - life is mind meltingly bonkers right now & dealing with that everyday is where I’m at & I’m trying to be OK with it, it’s not easy! But, I have come to realise that my art is a form of self portraiture without it being about my actual face all the time. This might not be news to you but it’s news to me 🤪 The inside of my head & the inside/outside of my life is what ends up on the surface/as a noise/a 3d rendering. One of my little foibles is that I see in pictures. All. The. Time. For EVERYTHING. I hadn’t noticed it was a thing until I started noticing it was a thing if that makes sense?! 😂Reading something - I see pictures, listening to someone talk - I see pictures of what they are talking about & where they are as well as what I’m looking at right in front of me. A smell, a sound - I see pictures of what that reminds me of. A constant film roll running to go with the constant internal chatter that is my constant friend. its quiet noisy inside my head! It also seems so weird when I write it down. Anyway, back to the pic above, I used to do these light boxes daily. Do you remember? I was scrolling absently through my camera roll & came across this one. I figured it’s still very relevant to my work, me & my insta feed so thought I would post it for old times sake! The light box didn’t survive the fire so I might have to invest in a new one when we get back home. Welcome to the Inside of My Head. 2017. Light box & plastic sheets of typography. #art #welcometotheinsideofmyhead #adhd #neurodivergence #artistslife #selfportrait #nikicottonartist #contemporaryart #typography #lightbox #selfie

GO & REGISTER! There’s a link in my profile. It takes seconds, today is the LAST DAY (18th June 2024) to register to vote in this year’s General Election (UK). It’s super quick & easy to do - FOLLOW THE LINK or go to /register-to-vote ! If you haven’t done it yet, please do. People in many countries don’t have a chance to vote & people have & still are fighting & dying for the right to vote. If you don’t vote you don’t have a voice to make a change. YOUR VOICE MATTERS 💥 As a group we can make a difference, on our own it’s harder to shift the tide. Nag over! GO REGISTER 🙌🎉👌✅ Image made for the Voting Schmoting exhibition at @weareinkyfingers with @realhackneydave raising money for people to go do an art foundation course. As we are all too aware the arts are being squeezed within an inch of their lives as are so many other areas of our lives. So, make a stand, make some changes - GET OF YOUR BUM & REGISTER TO VOTE! Nag really over now… (ps there’s a link in my profile, go register 🥰) #vote #generalelection #register #makeachange #haveyoursay #suffragettes #yourvoicematters

Look what rocked up today! So pleased with how the cover image came out that I designed with @alicegrist for her latest book #soulfulpregnancy . It was a joy to be involved in the birthing (pun intended…) of your latest creative act Alice 🥰. It’s released by @womancraft_publishing next week - 21st June (what a perfect release date!) & open for preorders from all the good places you buy your books until then. So if you’re thinking about getting pregnant, about to pop out a new soul onto the planet or in the throws of cooking a new person, then this book is a beautiful read, & obviously, it goes without saying, it’s got great cover art! #coverart #art #newbook #bookstagram #imadethis #nikicottonartist #design #book #collage

Today I shall mostly be making labels & an alphabet for the website. Figured that the way I write on my work would be a good place to start for titles & whatever the pressy things that take you places on a website are… Having a total perimenopausal moment & drawing a complete black hole on what those damn things are called 🤪🫣 (pointers greatly received!). On another note, a dymo label maker, a spot of collaged letters raided from magazines & some masking tape with a sharpie really are one of my happy places. Tools of my very own trade 😍 The technology side of it really isn’t my happy place. That makes me just want to cry 🙄 #alphabet #typography #website #doover #artist #perimenopause #nikicottonartist #rebrand

Not sure whether any of you know but in the middle of last year we had a catastrophic fire in the building attached to our home. We’ve been homeless but not roofless ever since, living in temporary accommodation. It’s been rather massive for all of us & not something that I think we’ve begun to process yet as we are still in such a state of limbo. We’re all safe, healthy & happy & that’s really all that matters isn’t it. The other week I went & collected some of the burnt embers from next door & have begun making some drawings. I’m wanting to make child like drawings of houses, of home with the charcoal. It’s been a weird thing to do & as with all of this situation we find ourselves in, there’s a huge amount of disassociation for me & I know it’s a coping mechanism. So yep, these are the beginning of something. Some first moves. They feel far too knowing at the moment so I’m considering using my non dominant hand to make them feel more unsure. More childlike. I’ll let you know how I get on. What do you think? #drawing #contemporaryart #charcoal #fire #draw #home #house #artistsstudio #art #makeart #worksonpaper #homeless #notroofless #nikicottonart #contemporaryart

The irony is not lost on me that I have been listening on @audible to @lauren_elkin_ ‘s Art Monsters whilst being deep in the domestic of my life - cleaning, cooking, walking dogs, delivering children to wherever they need to be etcetera ecetera, rather than being in the studio making 🙄🤪. This book is sooooo good though that I also bought the paper version as I know I need to go through it with a highlighter 😍 I love it when a book grabs you & pours all the thoughts into your head & lights a fuse at the same time. This is one of them. Read it. You won’t regret it. #bookstagram #book #artmonsters #art #femaleartists #feminism #inspiration #womenswork #creativelife

Everytime I drive past this part of the village I grin at the wild flower display. Last year the council put wild flower seed on the grass verges alongside the road & yesterday the dogs & I walked right by them. It was a little moment of joy. Are they called glimmer moments now? Thanks at @conwycbc for bringing such a pretty moment of nature to the sides of the road. #wildflowers #grassverges #nature #spring #whatsonthesideoftheroad #spring #northwales #rhosonesea #penrhynbay #beachlife #joy #glimmers #breathe

My furry boy had a colossal epileptic fit on Saturday morning. He’s thankfully OK. We have no idea what caused it other than it may have been something toxic he ate outside. Took a fair few years off me I can tell you whilst I sat in his sick & piss holding him & praying he would come through it. Luckily he’s a big dog & young. The fit was terrifying & rather violent. If it’s not the kids it’s the animals hey…. we’re now being super vigilant on walks as you can imagine & have eyes in the backs of our heads constantly watching him. The vet had no answers & it seems we just have to be mindful it could happen again & then again it might not. We now hang on tenter hooks... 📸 by @photography_by_lal #furrybaby #husky #huskylife #myfurryfriend #itsadogslife #fortheloveofdogs #breathe

The night nature put all my colours in the sky🤩💖✨! This is the kind of thing you see in magazines or other people’s photos not right here on our doorsteps where we can go outside in our pjs & soak it up! The Northern Lights playing across the sky over our little harbour village & beach here in North Wales. An utterly magical moment indeed. A spectacular show & all rather humbling really. Nature really is jaw dropping amazing. #northernlights #northwales #colourscape #lightfield #skyscape #beachlife #auroraborealis #aurora #magic #takethetimetowasteamoment #breathe #paintingwithlight #nature #nofilter

WIP. When the paint just isn’t working what do I do? Add fabrics & stitch to the surface that’s what. It definitely feels like it’s coming together. There are a few areas which are still making my eyes itch but on the whole I want to throw it in the bin less than I did. That’s got to be a good thing hasn’t it! #wip #whatsinthestudio #art #make #artistsstudio #contemporaryart #whatdoesanartistdoallday #nikicottonart #contempraryartist #painting #studio #freehandmachineembroidery #fibreartist #textiles #stitch #portrait #selfportrait #shhhh #benice #staysmall #dontspeak #cheeruploveitmightneverhappen

Spent the day yesterday with @pearestall pretending I was @keithbrymerjones 🤪 in Pea’s studio at the @thepeculiargallery for a day of making with clay 😍. Oh my gawd did I laugh at my inability to make much more than a mug! Pea as always was an excellent teacher & my first throw - a mug - was rather good even if I do say so myself 🥳. But, after that, when I was left to my own devises, my ability dropped to things that look like they may have been found in a long ago ancient civilizations rubbish dump 🫣😂. Still it was a day of joy, making, hanging out with a friend in their studio (always a great way to spend some time) & of learning something new & feeling like, even though I ‘could do better’, I would love the opportunity to do it again 😍. Just what I needed after the last couple of weeks where I was having to watch & make decisions about how much of my life could not be saved after the fire & flood & yes I can even add pestilence (see mice & rat infestation) to the mix. So thanks Pea for getting me out of my own head. #potterythrowdown #making #art #studio #craft #pottery #artistsdayout #whatimade #potterystudio #friendship #learning #newstuff #nikicottonartist #newwork #mug #clay

Faffing with @procreate . Quiet enjoying making collages via the iPad for the moment. It’s something new but also something I was really against doing previously. Everytime it has been suggested to me (on numerous occasions) I’ve resisted. It’s not the way I like working. I like being in my analogue world of scissors, glue & paper. I like seeing my interaction in the making process in the final image. But, for a way of working when I’m not sat in the studio with all my images, I’m just sat at home on a cold & grey British bank holiday Monday with the iPad & my photo reel - this is a great way of making. Plus, I do like the way the screen lights up the images, so luminous 🤩 I admit, I can’t quite get that effect with paper! I also think, because I’m really not that tech minded, I’m clunky in the way I’m using the app & because of that I have kept that rough edge to the images that make me feel that my hand is still involved. It doesn’t feel machine generated. What do you think? #collage #ipad #procreate #applepencil #video #art #contemporaryart #nikicottonart #newwork #wip #newthoughts #experiments #artistslife #bankholidaymonday #makeart