About

Nicole Soriano (she/her/hers)

Nicole is an mfa candidate in the integrated visual arts program at iowa state university. Her primary mediums are oil paints and film. Her work focuses on themes surrounding her personal experiences and traumas as a woman of color in the 21st century, combined with references to her favorite popular culture and artistic inspirations.

Artist Statement

Rooted in the visual language of horror, my work uses occultist iconography, animal symbolism, and satire to convey themes of my experience as both a woman and a person of color living in the 21st century. Through both painting and film, I use Horror as a place of comfort, as the genre itself cannot come close to replicating the true terrors that are a part of human existence. Often inspired by the visual aesthetics of the ’60s, my work also shows an attempt to connect with and reclaim a time in American culture of primarily Eurocentric representation. Media during that time failed to amplify marginalized voices and arguably continues to do so. Also fueled by misogynistic ideologies of the surrealists who fetishized violence against women as well as the overtly sexist advertisements seen in media throughout the 40s-80s, my work critiques and emphasizes how women have continued to be subjected to degrading situations and contexts since the 20th century well into current day. It is a very harsh and dangerous reality for women, and sometimes some of the best ways to cope with this is through a sense of humor. By deliberately placing women under the male gaze or at work in the kitchen, satire becomes a very important tool for me in flipping these misogynistic themes in ways that give women power over them.

(for anyone who cares lol)

Her big 3: Cap sun, gemini rising, cancer moon