Nicole Beck

“immaculate”

July 3rd - Auguat 29th, 2025 Bosky Studio.

BIO:

Nicole is a 35-year-old painter originally from Memphis, Tennessee, now living and working in

Colorado. She received her first formal art education at Mississippi State University, where she

earned a Studio Art minor alongside a degree in Microbiology, studying primarily under Brent

Funderburk, a renowned watercolorist. Since then, she has developed her practice through a

combination of workshops, mentorships, and dedicated studio work.

Since launching her painting career in earnest around 2017, Nicole has exhibited her work in

three solo shows and numerous group exhibitions across Colorado. In 2025, she was awarded

First Place in The Artist’s Magazine “Artists to Watch” competition in the Portrait/Figure Division.

Though she began her career with palette knife portraiture, she is seeking to continually

advance her skill in the realistic figurative painting world. Focusing on Narrative Portrait and

Figurative representation, she incorporates religious symbology, icons, and cultural references

to offer a contemporary perspective on religious imagery through the female gaze. She hopes to

engage her religious community alongside the non-religious art audience to re-enchant the

world and create dialogue about religion, the female experience, and faith.

STATEMENT:

In the autumn of 2020, during the first year of the pandemic, I semi-impulsively enrolled in a

Master’s program in Theological Studies at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. This

decision was driven by a desire to deepen my understanding of philosophy, explore the

relationship between my art and my faith, and, admittedly, boredom. It marked the beginning of

a four-year, part-time journey that challenged—and ultimately strengthened—my relationship

with religion, art, and Christian community.

In addition to traditional seminary courses such as Hebrew, Exegesis, and Old Testament

studies, my concentration in “Christianity and the Arts” opened doors to classes like

Contemporary Art and Theology and The Christian Imagination. Attending these courses

remotely from the U.S., against the backdrop of a turbulent religious and political climate, added

complexity and urgency to my studies, as I worked to recalibrate both my artistic and spiritual

identity in alignment with the core of my faith.

This body of work emerged from that arc of personal and spiritual growth. Having grown up in

the Evangelical Christian South, I was struck by how Mary, the mother of Christ, is often treated

with suspicion rather than reverence. As a reaction against perceived Catholic excesses, any

focused attention or veneration toward Mary is often labeled idolatrous. Consequently, the

primary feminine figure in Christianity is distanced from the women in the congregation.

Recognizing this dynamic, I centered my Master’s thesis on Marian imagery throughout church

history—examining what these icons were, how they were used, and what they communicated

about both Mary and the women of the church. Drawing inspiration from artists such as

Harmonia Rosales, Rogier van der Weyden, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Edward Burne-

Jones, I created this exhibition using their visual languages, reimagined in a contemporary

context. Through this work, I explore archetypes of women as sinner, sufferer, and mother.

My hope is that this work might invite a reenchantment of the world through symbol, and offer

space for contemplation about the role of the feminine within faith and religious tradition.