Bio
Born in New England, and currently residing in Los Angeles, Nick De Costa describes his art as a testament to the ebullient wealth and complexity of our magnificent ecosystem, as well as the mysteries of the cosmos.
His work explores the furthest reaches of our collective, human, and scientific knowledge, and the depths of the subconscious. Inspired by his meditation practice, surfing, and his gratitude towards the connected, conscious experience we share on our planet - as well as the temporal essence of our mortality - these works are made as crude, yet erudite maps of the totality of existence. As one looks at Nick’s drawings, one is taken by a sense of synergy that binds all of us to his work as we are bound to nature.
Utilizing a versatile skill set of ink drawing and watercolor painting to craft a spectacular and original narrative, and deeply encoded with esoteric pagan motifs, Nick’s dense illustrations entrance the viewer with exhaustive detail and brilliant moments of creativity that are uniquely his own, yet are familiar.
His work explores the furthest reaches of our collective, human, and scientific knowledge, and the depths of the subconscious. Inspired by his meditation practice, surfing, and his gratitude towards the connected, conscious experience we share on our planet - as well as the temporal essence of our mortality - these works are made as crude, yet erudite maps of the totality of existence. As one looks at Nick’s drawings, one is taken by a sense of synergy that binds all of us to his work as we are bound to nature.
Utilizing a versatile skill set of ink drawing and watercolor painting to craft a spectacular and original narrative, and deeply encoded with esoteric pagan motifs, Nick’s dense illustrations entrance the viewer with exhaustive detail and brilliant moments of creativity that are uniquely his own, yet are familiar.
Statement
My art is cultivated with the intention of presenting a manifestation of permanence by way of the ephemeral, and an offering to the divine feminine, whom I find to reside in all the living and sentient things of our natural environment. I am deeply influenced by this seemingly endless abundance of life and evolutionary history, as well as the fragility of our world.
In the years following my experience as a combat photographer in the war in Iraq, while enlisted as a soldier in the US Army, I have come to understand more lucidly the thin ties that bind mortals to this realm, and like so many other survivors of trauma, I discovered a process for healing through a life of devoted art practice. My work contains these themes of life and death, light and shadow, rot and decay, and compassion and redemption.
Using only raw, analog materials like ink and watercolor, and saltwater from the ocean, I find that these mediums help to further connect me with the Earth and to conceptualize my art by using a language of literal, as well as symbolic visual expressions.
In the years following my experience as a combat photographer in the war in Iraq, while enlisted as a soldier in the US Army, I have come to understand more lucidly the thin ties that bind mortals to this realm, and like so many other survivors of trauma, I discovered a process for healing through a life of devoted art practice. My work contains these themes of life and death, light and shadow, rot and decay, and compassion and redemption.
Using only raw, analog materials like ink and watercolor, and saltwater from the ocean, I find that these mediums help to further connect me with the Earth and to conceptualize my art by using a language of literal, as well as symbolic visual expressions.