Artist Spotlight: Nicolle Cure

Kristen Dwyer

August 21, 2020

Hello, all! I hope you're well. Over here we are just chugging right along and looking forward to cooler temps and peaceful fall vibes. Speaking of fall, an amazing artist, Nicolle Cure, just launched a new collection and the palette is just PERFECTION.

Hello, all! I hope you’re well. Over here we are just chugging right along and looking forward to cooler temps and peaceful fall vibes. Speaking of fall, an amazing artist, Nicolle Cure, just launched a new collection and the palette is just PERFECTION. It’s so calming, but warm. Energetic, but peaceful. The collection has launched at the perfect time when we are saying bye to summer and opening ourselves up to change and a different energy of fall. Today, I want to introduce you to Nicolle, what she’s about, and show you her amazing works!

I love doing artist spotlights and introducing you to amazing people you might not know about. Art is so SO necessary for a life well lived. Our souls need to know beauty. I especially love when an artist I already admire has an impressive backstory. A meaningful life experience that changes their trajectory and gives their work purpose is the story I’m interested in. Turning tragedy into triumph allows you to be an inspiration for millions, and often, the story behind the artist is just as beautiful as the work itself.

That’s why I’m thrilled to feature Nicolle Cure today. She has overcome so much, thriving along the way, and turning her disability into her superpower. Nicolle has brought awareness to causes she supports (more on that later) all while weaving her Colombian-Lebanese heritage and vibrancy of Miami, her current home, into her works. Her art is deeply personal and moving. Let me tell you about this amazing woman doing big things!

Artist Spotlight: Nicolle Cure

Onyx

You might remember the name Nicolle Cure, as she was featured in my last blog post rounding up 20 powerful art prints! You also might remember her story because it is special and what sparked the last few years of works. In 2017, her Sudden Unilateral Hearing Loss (SSHL) served as the catalyst that launched her into a world of activism, focused passion, and creating beauty as well as being an inspiration to others.

I briefly touched upon her story in my last post, so let’s elaborate, shall we? After suffering from SSHL, Nicolle would wake up feeling as if everything was spinning. Not only was she living with SSHL, but Nicolle also suffered from Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV). I am no stranger to inner ear issues and vertigo, and let me tell you, it sucks. A LOT. She said she spent a lot of time in isolation–because when your balance is off, what are you able to do?

Amplified Blue

Sound became a huge trigger for Nicolle as she developed Hyperacusis, a very rare and equally debilitating hearing disorder causing you to be extra sensitive to certain volumes and frequencies of sound. The only way she was able to help the pain was to avoid sounds. Impossible, right? Think about what your life might look like if you needed to avoid sound. Forget the TV, your favorite Pandora station, even calming instrumental music or Headspace meditations. What about social interaction? How can you even talk to the people you love? She said she felt trapped in a nightmare.

But there’s a happy ending to this story! Obviously there is so much more to Nicolle Cure than her disabilities, and she wisely was able to recognize that and work with what she had. I really want to honor Nicolle with this spotlight. Her story is very special, and how she pulled through is even more unique and inspiring. If you have ever lived with chronic pain/illness, you know it deeply affects you both mentally and physically. You have to be such a strong person, in character and spirit, to rise above. And guess what? That’s exactly what Nicolle did.

After Malachite

Nicolle was able to channel her emotions into a body of work that is meaningful and inspiring to so many. The Colors of Sound series was born and came into existence in an interesting, almost kismet, way. Nicolle’s partner, Felipe, is a sound engineer. He showed her how many sound frequencies she was no longer able to hear. But what Nicolle took from that is, sure, she couldn’t hear the sounds, but she could SEE the frequencies on the screen. She says,

“Seeing the sound allowed me to capture emotions and moods.”

The Colors of Sound series includes over 100 uplifting paintings mimicking what sound frequencies look like. Nicolle used paints and acrylic inks to replicate the energy and movement of sound waves.

Rush

“My art is the fuel that ignites my passion for helping others. I use art as a tool to create beauty around me and support the causes I believe in.”

Nicolle is very passionate about activism and raising awareness of invisible disabilities such as hearing and balance disorders. In 2018, Americans for the Arts awarded her with the Leaders with Disabilities Scholarship for helping to raise awareness with her series The Colors of Sound.

She also supports various organizations through her Art for a Cause, donating her time, money, and artwork. Last week, she gave a live studio tour with Showfields and for every person that joined the live broadcast, $1 was donated to VEDA Vestibular Disorders Association. Psst…you can still catch the recording of the live studio tour!

Gravity

I like to imagine I am in a recording studio seeing the sound waves, but not hearing them. I imagine how my other senses would be heightened if I had the awareness to focus on what I can experience over what I can’t. I picture the sensation I would have, experiencing sound waves with one sense but not another. That it would be both confusing, but also beautiful. With The Colors of Sound collection, Nicolle so generously gives us a glimpse into her beautiful world. Funnily enough, one of her paintings is even called ‘Just a Glimpse’!

Blue Noise

View the rest of The Colors of Sound series.

Are you ready to see Nicolle’s latest collection? The Colors of Sound Supernova just launched, and I would love to show you how Nicolle expanded upon the ‘colors as sounds’ idea to bring us to a body of work that truly is, the universe.

The Colors of Sound Supernova

Supernova

Nicolle Cure’s latest collection, The Colors of Sound Supernova, is inspired by supernova stars. This collection of works is very dynamic, with a lot of kinetic energy leaping off the canvas. You can feel the movement and the expansiveness of the universe within Nicolle’s translation of the supernova star.

The Colors of Sound Supernova collection continues the exploration of sound from The Colors of Sound collection and expands upon the idea, fully encompassing the universe and making her work even more far reaching and powerful. The vastness of space, paired with the energy of the supernova star, transports you into Nicolle’s world equally full of beauty and chaos.

Magnetic Fields I

According to NASA, a supernova is a star’s “last hurrah”. It is an explosion of a star that is at least 5 times the size of our sun. Also noteworthy, a supernova burns enormous amounts of nuclear fuel at its core and is constantly trying to balance gravity pushing in on it, attempting to make it smaller, and the giant nuclear energy core that just wants to expand. Super metaphorical, right? I feel the juxtaposition of expansiveness and crushing pressure.

When the core runs out of fuel, gravity wins and the star collapses. But not before sending out a massive explosion of energy. NASA says to imagine something that is a million times the mass of earth collapsing in under 15 seconds. That is the supernova, both the star and the body of work: an explosion of energy, color, creativity, movement, passion, and “hear me roar-ness”.

Allow me to show you my favorites from The Colors of Sound Supernova collection: