Artist's Bio
Nicole Schyns (b. 1990, Germany) is an abstract painter and filmmaker based in the Netherlands. Born to Polish parents and shaped by a life across borders, her work explores themes of belonging, place, and identity.
She collects natural earth pigments from around the world, using them to create art that reflects a deep connection to land and home.
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Nicole studied Crossmedia Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Enschede, where she expanded her practice beyond painting into film. While she began painting at age 11, her time at art school sparked a lasting passion for storytelling through video.
Today, she shares her creative process and reflections on slow living on her YouTube channel, and offers her skills as a videographer to kindred slow living spirits and projects.
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Nicole is a dog lover. Her first dog Baco (2012-2025) was a stray from Romania. She enjoys singing, yoga and doing improvisational theater in her spare time.
Artist Statement
Nicole’s work is a meditation on belonging. As someone who has always lived between languages, countries, and cultures, she often searched for stillness — a sense of rootedness —
in the landscapes surrounding her. Through the ritual of painting with foraged earth pigments, she captures the raw essence of a place on earth, a memory of colour, texture and presence.
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Each painting begins with a place: a forest path, a quiet valley, a sun-warmed hillside.
Nicole collects soil from these places not just for their beauty, but for the way they make her feel — grounded, quiet, at home.
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There is something sacred about holding earth in your hands — about grinding stones into pigment and slowly turning them into colour on the canvas.
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Earth tones and natural textures bring a kind of calm that reaches your soul. On Nicole’s canvasses, they become spaces of reflection — gentle, abstract invitations to pause, exhale, and feel.
publications
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Buitenleven Magazine
june 2024
exhibitions
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Ruimte voor Kunst - De Natuur
Möllerwerf, Hengelo
01 oktober - 16 oktober 2022
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Open Ateliers Hengelo
Eigen huis, Hengelo
15 - 16 juli 2023
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'Local Pigment Paintings - Pigments van Hengelo', Vrijhof Culture, University of Twente, Enschede (SOLO)
November 25 - January 10, 2022
'Pigments of Hengelo' , Vliegende Stoel, Hengelo, (SOLO)
September 24-26, 2021
Stadsherberg, City Hall in Enschede
2019
'Mail Art - International Women's Day', Stork Pavilioen, Hengelo
2019
'Dark Matters', University Of Twente, Enschede
2016
ArtEZ Finals Exhibition, Enschede
2014
'1000 Photos Amsterdam', Melkweg Gallery, Amsterdam
2013
education
AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design,
Bachelor's Degree in Crossmedia Design, Enschede
2010-2014
photography assistant, 'Studio Arjan Benning', Amsterdam
2013
AKI minor film study, 'The Movement Image', Enschede
2013