Nicole S. Pietrantoni

She Has Been Sleeping
lithograph, chine colle, collage, hand-stitching
13 x 13 in.

A concoction of whimsical, fairy-tale-inspired figures and animals set against a blend of interior and exterior landscapes, my work explores the spaces between domesticity and nature, woman and girl, community and isolation. I am fascinated by dichotomies and the opportunity therein to explore luminal spaces—the mysterious and transformative “in-between,” a period of gestation.

Along with building layers of recurring iconography, I obsessively perform two actions in my art: patterning and stitching: one, a human desire to put things in order and build meaning and cohesion; the other, a historically female chore, but also an art form, that evokes mending, healing, and creation.

Art making is an ongoing process as I perpetually collect images and patterns and record both quirky and banal events, situations, and feelings. Illustrative and narrative, my art is a series of maps and records from travel, work, and the everyday.

© Nicole S. Pietrantoni