By Whitney Browneller, Staff Reporter
Nicole Tsosie is a Fine Arts and Digital Media major at CNM who was recently featured in the exhibition “Codes” at the Freestyle gallery on Central Avenue.
She primarily works with digital media to create her artwork but plans to keep working with different mediums in the future.
“I love to work with Photoshop when making my art. I love digital media but don’t want to tie myself down to one label. I think it’s great for artists to venture into as many things as they can get their hands on and it only seems healthy to get out of our own comfort zones,” she said.
She said she has always enjoyed art throughout her life, any type of art.
Nicole got into the arts while she was in school and remembers making a pattern that got a lot of recognition from her classmates, she said.
She got attention for her art more so than any other thing in school and found that her classmates were intrigued by her art.
“Growing up, I have always felt as though I am constantly stuck in my own head,” she said.
Nicole uses her art to overcome her own struggles and difficulties.
“I learned to turn my flaws around and use them as a gift,” she said.
Nicole’s artistic vision allows her to share her imagined world that is relatable to others.
“We all have our own flaws but with help we can use them for something good,” she said.
Nicole took several different types of classes during her first few semesters at CNM, including art classes.
“I realized that my art classes felt more right and natural,” she said.
Majoring in Fine Arts was a decision she made based on how she felt in her heart, and what she thought she would be happy with in the long run, she said.
She plans to one day bring her art to hospitals and senior homes to uplift peoples’ spirits, she said.
“I want to be able to brighten someone’s day with my artwork, who otherwise might not have any hope in their lives at the time,” she said.
After graduation with her digital media degree she wants to work on graphics and websites so she is able to use her art skills daily but also have stability for her family, she said.
She plans to still work on art in her free time and hopefully sell or donate art to places like hospitals and nursing homes that could use it, she said.
Nicole gets her inspiration from God, she said.
“I don’t have to look very far to find beauty and inspiration from nature,” she said.
Nicole specifically remembers using a cloud concept for one of her art projects a few semesters ago, she shaped different pieces of fabric in a way where each person could recognize something different but respond to same thing differently, she said.
“I feel like nature has a beauty that we cannot even begin to fathom, and I love putting organic and colorful ideas into my own art,” she said.
Nicole uses more of a mystical bright fantasy theme for her projects, it is how she is able to take her viewers into another world, she said.
She likes that this theme takes viewers out of their usual world, their usual way of things, and maybe get them to think differently, she said.
Nicole hopes to continue that in one way or another with her future art projects.
She said that she experiences artist block all the time and has a lot of self-doubt that she has to work around daily which keeps her from coming up with ideas.
She said the advice that she gives is to take a lot of breaks and know that it is okay to give oneself a lot of time because some of the best things in life take a lot of time.
Nicole also advises on having a good support group to help with problems of self-doubt.
“We all have amazing qualities to offer to this world, and sometimes we just need someone there to remind us,” she said.
