Portland has such a vibrant art community, and we’ve chosen to showcase some of the local talent here, in Maine, through a rotating gallery in common spaces at The Francis. Each exhibit will either feature an artist or subject from Maine.
Artist Statement from Nicole Wolf
“I have an affinity for the sea and everything that lives within. I come from generations of men and women who were born on and thrived off what came out of the ocean. My father was a commercial scuba diver for 35 years and, as a child, I remember him bringing home pieces of past lives that he would find hidden on the ocean floor. I was always fascinated by how weathered yet preserved they were. While the years of tide and salt had decayed the surface of materials, the story was still there underneath—living and breathing as if it was yesterday.
My series “Sunk” is a collection of images, of artifacts retrieved from the sea off the coast of Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. I wanted to photograph these artifacts in a way that was nostalgic, leaving questions of the journey and history of each piece. My hope is to suspend the viewer in juxtaposition of preservation and decay—emphasizing the strength of history with the fragility of life.
Since 2001, Wolf has owned and operated her own photography studio, with her photographs being published in numerous local, national and international magazines and newspapers. Maine Home + Design described her current exhibit as “definitely formal still lifes, yet they are also portraits, full of character, history, and a sense of the people who have lived with these objects over time.”
