Art is Freedom

About Niki Hare

Niki Hare manages to transform the unspoken into an everlasting artistic experience. To achieve this, she blends language and color to create an innovative form of expression – one that translates emotions into spectacular typography. In… Read more

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Work Info

In Wordpaintings, Niki Hare transforms emotions and musings into spectacular typography. Although these works are accessible worldwide, each viewer has a unique experience when encountering her creations. The artist has developed a distinct visual language full of color, life, and philosophical depth. Hare’s works are internationally renowned and frequently on exhibit throughout Europe and North America.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Niki Hare manages to transform the unspoken into an everlasting artistic experience. To achieve this, she blends language and color to create an innovative form of expression – one that translates emotions into spectacular typography.
In Wordpaintings, thoughts and feelings are transformed into an interactive exhibit – intimate on a personal level, yet far-reaching and accessible worldwide. Niki Hare has developed a distinct visual language that is timeless, full of life, and philosophically profound. She uses language and text to colorfully express all that goes unsaid. Hare attaches great importance to the names of her works, many of which are inspired by well-known philosophers. For example, a title that refers to Jean-Paul Sartre’s writings may serve as a starting point from which Hare develops a new creation.
Honesty and directness are at the forefront of Hare’s Wordpaintings series. She extracts thoughts and words from within – without filter or alteration. Every brush stroke is a piece of her, each creation provides a glimpse into her soul, and the entirety of her works is an expression of continuous self-examination..
„Maybe I am a poet with no language except that of paint”
 Although Hare’s works come about spontaneously, they manage to follow a certain sequence. The artist blends opposing color gradients with overlays, opacity, and glazed color application to create a floating effect. Using a unique style of expression, she creates tension between the various layers; The background transitions from light to dark while the overlapping text follows an inverted color gradient, a method that provides visibility and contrast.
This technique of superimposition results in a complex composition – one that is more than the sum of its parts. In Hare’s work, she is always reinterpreting the familiar to create new points of view and encourage reflection.
Niki Hare is a visual artist based out of Tewkesbury in the United Kingdom. She works with a variety of materials and mediums. She prefers, however, working directly with a paintbrush. This method allows her to use the untamed power of color to realize her ideas as they come to mind. Her work is internationally sought after and has been on exhibition in the UK, Germany, and the USA.

VITA

Born 1971
Lives and works in Tewkesbury, UK

Exhibitions

2023	Rich Art Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan
2021	Chasen Galleries, Sarasota, USA AHOY! Art Gallery, Palma, Spain
2020	Blaue Stunde X ‘All Stars’, Altes Pfandhaus, Cologne, Germany Blues, Song Word Art House, Los Angeles, USA Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
2019	Hidden Gallery, Bristol, UK Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK London Art Fair, London, UK Contemporary Art Fair Zurich, Switzerland
2018	Blaue Stunde VIII, Altes Pfandhaus, Cologne, Germany Old House-New Art Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey
2017	EWAAC, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London, UK Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
2016	ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London, UK EWAAC 2016, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London, UK
2015	Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, UK The Open West 15, The Wilson, Cheltenham, UK David Simon Contemporary, Bath, UK DRAWN, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
2014	New English Art Club, Mall Galleries, London, UK Threadneedle Space, Mall Galleries, London, UK Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2013	Society of Women Artists, Mall Galleries, London, UK Blaue Stunde V, Altes Pfandhaus, Cologne, Germany SELF, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Mall Galleries, London, UK DRAWN, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK Blaue Stunde IV, Altes Pfandhaus, Cologne, Germany

INTERVIEW

Picasso once said, “you don’t make art, you find it.” Where do you find your art?
I find it everywhere, in the day to day and ordinary. It’s not that exciting, more about getting by and painting is my way of getting by.

From an idea to its materialization: How do you approach your work?
I have a thought or idea and then I paint it, I don’t think too much about the process. Sometimes I have a new idea for a process and I try it out with the next thought. I love experimenting with new processes but when I am painting, I don’t want to think about any of that, I just want to do it. I paint quite fast and I like that things get a bit messed up because layers aren’t that dry. An idea or emotion is a fleeting thing so it needs to be done all at once.

What is your favorite book?
So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away, by Richard Brautigan. There are so many books that I love, but if I had to pick, it would be this one.

Which artist would you like to have coffee with and what would you discuss?
I would have loved to have met my great uncle on my mother’s side, Mathias Goeritz an artist and architect. I nearly met him in Mexico, but sadly he died just before. There would be nothing in particular to discuss, just art I suppose, but that is all very different now.

How did you get into art?
I always just liked making things, I didn’t see it as art, I still don’t really, it’s just how I see things.

Who are the people in your surroundings that influence you?
I’m not really influenced by people; my inspiration is the small details in the world around me and whatever comes up in my head.

Imagine you have a time machine. Where would you go?
I guess I would go back to my start and try and make a better job of it.

Other than art, what are you most passionate about?
Strangely enough, I’m really into motorsport, especially hill climbing. Prior to painting I worked with horses all my life, I miss the horses. Other than that, there is my garden at the back of studio 2, something that I created out of a wasteland and now it’s full of lettuce.

What are you working on right now?
I’ve got word paintings going on at the studio at home, experiments with surfaces and colours. At studio 2 I’m mostly working on oil paintings inspired by the garden at night. I am really boring but I do keep working!