Bio

Zoe Nichols is an interdisciplinary artist and writer currently based in the Pacific Northwest. Her work, primarily installation and sculptural works, ponders the visual language of absence. The worn steps of a cathedral are her muse. An attention to index and light play important roles in her practice.

Nichols graduated Spring of 2024 from Watkins College of Art at Belmont University with a B.A. in Art Studies and Philosophy. During her undergraduate career, she was awarded the Sandra Hutchinson’s Non-Fiction Writing Award. She is also a recipient of the Cyril V. Evans Outstanding Student Award and the Innovative Concept Award. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions across Nashville and Birmingham. Her 2024 thesis exhibition was a synthesis of her art and philosophy degrees as she examined the presence found in absence and light. Upon graduating, Nichols continued her research by attending a Skycave Dark Retreat in Southern Oregon with the generous aid of the Walter and Sarah Knestrick Award. This involved sitting in absolute darkness for four consecutive days. After attending the retreat in January 2025, Nichols was offered a summer residency at Skycave where she made food for the people in the dark. Nichols developed her most recent body of work, These Walls are My Skin, while living and working there.