NIKOLAI (he/him b. 1976, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) has formal training in visual art and human ecology. In 2004 he shifted from a studio painting practice to experimentation with video art and became a self-taught documentary filmmaker. After receiving a Jane Morrison Foundation education grant for emerging filmmakers in 2006, he studied advanced digital cinematography at the Maine Media Workshops. Since 2016, he has lived and worked in the region know as Downeast Maine.
Abstraction Four. Oil on canvas with graphite and newspaper, 36x24 inches. 2011.
Abstraction Five. Digital photograph, 3694x2463 pixels. 2017.
Museum in Motion. Digital Photograph, 2474x2474 pixels. 2009.
figure study. Charcoal on paper, 18x24 inches. 2004.
His combined experience in fine arts, ecology and arts education, with his professional work as a commercial and event photographer, videographer and editor enables him to create work for clients that is heartfelt and expressive while being efficient and collaborative.
Light through Long Pond. Oil on prepared panel, 18x22 inches. 2017.
Nikolai on the Ship Harbor trail in Acadia National Park. 2023. Photograph by Eloise Schultz.