Nicole Young

Multimedia Artist

Vancouver, British Columbia

Nicole Young is a visual artist and art consultant based on the traditional, unceded and occupied territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Wautuh First Nations. Working at the junction of environmentalism, material exploration, and storytelling, Nicole’s works are as much science experiments as they are conversations on ways to approach climate justice.

She combines repurposed painted canvas with thrifted and hand dyed textiles, often sourcing natural materials to create pigments and dyes. This process is a way to deepen her connection with the natural world, and to create a dialogue about waste-free practices. Moving seamlessly between large scale textile installations, sewn works on canvas, and drawings, Nicole’s works blend traditional approaches to textile art with gestural, painterly characteristics.

Born in Ontario, Nicole attended the University of British Columbia Okanagan where she received a BFA in Visual Arts and Art History, and studied studio arts and art history at the University of California Los Angeles. Nicole's recent exhibitions include the solo show I Was There, I Forget the Rest in Vancouver in 2024 and Home Body in Los Angeles in 2025. In 2022 she took part in a residency with the Kent Harrison Arts Council, and she has collaborated with Lululemon, Aritzia and Earls Restaurants. Her work has been featured in Art Journal and New & Abstract, and in the Studio Visit Book - Volume 1 by Arts to Hearts Project.

“The colour, shape and pattern in textiles always makes me think of someone I have known, or a place I have visited, so I use fabric to capture forgotten histories and stories. My work documents the connections between memory, imagination, and reality, and how these are often fragmented yet dependent on one another.”

-Nicole Young