Celebrating Modern Art and Personal Narratives

Nicole Anne Bouwer (b. 1994) is a South African/Swiss artist. Nicole grew up in Makhanda, South Africa. She discovered her love for painting in school and can recall the joy she felt as she lost herself exploring how the light fell on the object and the way the brush grazed the canvas. She watched the painting come together like a jigsaw puzzle in front of her. That was it – she was hooked.

After graduating with her BFA in 2017, Nicole ventured into marketing and recruitment while participating in a variety of exhibitions in and around Cape Town. She completed her Honours degree in Art History and Visual Culture in 2022, producing a dissertation concerning the relationship and dynamics between tattoos and identity in contemporary South Africa. This encompassed themes such as symbolism, spirituality, pain, and identity formation. The dissertation was met with a mark of 90% and earned Nicole a spot on the Dean’s List and a full scholarship to complete her MFA.

In late 2024, Nicole held her Masters’ exhibition which explored how tattoos – and the process of tattooing – encapsulate personal significance. Her range of artwork featured paintings, sculptures, and drawings through which she shared personal stories of mental health, relationships, growth, and transformation. Nicole’s academic research aims to better understand the act of tattooing as a grief ritual while incorporating symbolic play and physical pain as mediums of emotional healing.

Nicole’s journey as an artist has been one of transformation – from creating visually engaging and often commission-based paintings, to developing a deeply conceptual practice that explores the intersection of tattoos, mental health, and personal identity. While her earlier work honed her technical skills and appreciation for aesthetic storytelling, Nicole’s current art investigates the symbolic and emotional weight of tattoos as markers of experience, grief, and self-construction. Through painting and sculpture, Nicole examines how body art functions as both a personal archive and a healing ritual, inviting viewers to reflect on their own narratives of resilience and transformation.