TOMISLAV NIKOLIC

Tomislav Nikolic has a finely tuned ability to express the spirit and power of colour through abstraction. Drawing inspiration from both everyday life and the great masters, Nikolic distils and reinterprets these influences into emotionally resonant works that feel both intimate and expansive.

codice chronicles + vibrant translations presents two new bodies of work that delve deeper into the artist’s ongoing exploration of symbolic systems and metaphysical inquiry. The word ‘codice’ evokes an ancient system of communication; an idea that deeply resonates with Nikolic’s practice, which often explores how humans attempt to decode and assign meaning to forces beyond our comprehension. In his twelve painting series, the artist turns to astrological beliefs and their elemental divisions—earth, water, fire, and air—as one of many frameworks humans have constructed to rationalise the mysteries of the universe. These symbolic systems speak to a timeless and deeply human impulse that is the desire to impose coherence on the unknowable, and to ultimately locate ourselves amidst the cosmos. Through this lens, Nikolic’s paintings become meditative spaces, prompting viewers to reflect on their own cosmic insignificance amidst the vast and unfathomable expanse of the infinite.