NICOLE BURKO

Nicole Burko was born in Toronto Canada in 1987. Her work is informed by her own explorations of the ocean through freediving— the act of taking a single breath of air and descending into the ocean as far as humanly possible. The resulting psychological landscape paintings investigate the vastness of the natural world through an intimate lens.

Part of my practice is the first-person exploration of underwater caves. Experiencing these spaces through freediving is both mental and physical; a diver is at once keenly aware of their surroundings and deeply entrenched in their own mind. As the mammalian dive reflex takes over, blood shifts from the extremities and the heart rate slows, to as low as ten beats per minute creating a euphoric state. This euphoria gradually turns to tension and discomfort as the body becomes more and more hypoxic — the urge to breathe growing more painful with each second.

When I resurface, I take the experience of the ocean into my studio. Diving provides an opportunity for translation. Like the Romantics who've inspired me, I imbue my artwork with stillness, longing, and the experiential sensations of that accompany the difficulty of transcribing the vastness of the natural world — all of which I feel in the deep sea. These ideas are less pictorial and perhaps more emotive than traditional landscape paintings, exploring the spatial and psychological aspects of freediving.

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