Nicole Coson (b. 1992, Philippines) constructs a metaphoric narrative around the phenomenology of the paranormal through the media of painting, printing and drawing. Ghost-like figures appear throughout her work, particularly in her Spirit Captures series. Her work attempts to connect the viewer with something simultaneously familiar and alien. The resulting experience is the unsettled nervousness of Freud’s Uncanny. She seeks the contemplation of something caught mid-flight, incorporating unexplained natural formations; shapes resembling animals in the clouds, Chinese scholar’s rocks or an arrangement of an ancient Japanese rock garden. Working with a restrained palette, her works are often refined documentations of various fleeting encounters and experiences.

Coson’s signature technique employs painting and printmaking in equal measure. Using a cylindrical printing press, the artist rolls over metallic printing plates loaded with oil paint. A canvas is sandwiched in between the plates and roller and bears the resultant colours and formants.

Coson graduated with a BA in Fine Art from Central Saint Martins with a first degree honours in 2014. She gained an MFA from the Royal College of Art in 2020. Coson was also nominated for the Saatchi New Sensations Award and selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020. Coson lives and works in London.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Fortress, Ben Hunter, London, UK (2021); Exoskeleton, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (2021); Cacotopia 4, Anna Kultys Gallery, London, UK (2020); Deflect, Galerie Untilthen, Paris, France (2019); Camouflage, Silverlens, Manila, Philippines (2017); Skin, Finale Art File, Manila, Philippines (2017); Process of Elimination, Display Gallery, London, UK (2016); Process of Elimination, Finale Art File, Manila, Philippines (2016); How to Appear Without A Trace, Display Gallery, London, UK (2015); Ghost, Stamperia Del Tevere, Rome, Italy (2015); How to Appear Without A Trace II, Asia House, London, UK (2015); Untitled, Finale Art File, Manila, Philippines (2014); Spirit Captures, West Gallery, Manila, Philippines (2013)

Selected Group Exhibitions

SPRING, Ben Hunter, London, UK (2022); Stand with Ukraine, Hales Gallery, London, UK (2022); Windows, The Artist Room, London, UK (2021); How to Cook a Wolf, Center for Book Arts, New York, USA (2021); Art Basel Basel, Silverlens Galleries, Basel, Switzerland (2021); Picture House: Nicole Coson and Garrett Pruter, Brigade, Copenhagen, Denmark (2021);  Art Basel Hong Kong, Silverlens Galleries, Hong Kong (2021); New Contemporaries, London; Ben Hunter, London; The Artist’s Room, London; Galerie Untilthen, Paris; Silverlens Galleries, Manila; Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2020, TBC; Saatchi Gallery, London; Annka Kultys Gallery, London; Dyson Gallery, RCA, London; Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila; and Division of Labour, London.

Interested in Nicole Coson’s work?