Comfort and Peace with Nicole Salcedo

Commissioner holiday cards are inspired by the Museum of Modern Art's Junior Council, which in 1954 initiated a holiday card program to “help foster their common interest in the arts and a desire to see artists supported soundly and liberally in this country”. Each season, we commission or collaborate with a Miami-based artist whose work feels especially timely and soul-filling this time of year.

Celestial Bodies (2020), courtesy of the artist.

For our fourth annual holiday initiative, we asked multidisciplinary artist Nicole Salcedo to share her work “Celestial Bodies”, also printed as a limited edition of 250 postcards for members. A striking image of interconnection, two beings are pictured holding each other in the tropical sky. Light breaks from behind a cloud.

The artist explains, “This piece was made in the midst of lockdown in 2020 when there was so much uncertainty and tension in the air. I felt the need to create an image that inspired hope and a brighter future when we could see and feel our loved ones again. The image came to me while I was sitting outside looking at the clear blue sky wondering when I would see my friends again, and immediately the figures flashed into my mind. My hope is that it brings a sense of peace and comfort to those who see it.”

We asked Nicole about her inspiration and hopes for the new year. From our families to yours, heartfelt wishes for the holidays.

What inspires you these days? Where are you finding joy? 

As of late, I have been keeping freshwater aquariums and learning about aquatic plants and how they affect the waters they inhabit, specifically here in South Florida. I’m cultivating a native tape grass that I rescued from the Miami River, and learning about its water filtration and medicinal properties. Plants have always, and continue to inspire my work, through and through. Changing the water and tending to my mini tanks brings me a lot of joy these days, especially the little shrimp I have living inside them. I also find a lot of joy in dancing with my friends.

You refer to “meditative marks” in your work, please elaborate. 

My drawings are in and of themselves meditations, the process of creating them is very meditative and trance-like for me. There is a lot of repetition in my marks which accumulate into dense patterning or wave-like formations. I have to be aware of my breathing as I draw, and over the years I notice how certain patterns of breathing impact the shape or “energy” of the mark.

What was a highlight of 2021? 

On my birthday in May, I traveled with a couple friends to Crystal Springs, Florida. It was the first time I had travelled since the lockdown, and the water up there was so welcoming and beautiful. It felt like a huge weight had lifted off my chest as I went into the clear cold waters.

What are you most looking forward to next year? 

Pandemic willing, I’m looking forward to a residency I will be attending at the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna, Florida. I also have a few projects lined up that I’m really excited about.

As you know, many of us are emerging collectors and arts patrons. How can we better support artists like you and our local artist community?

Besides things like continuing to purchase the works of artists you like, arts patrons need to advocate for affordable studio space for artists as well as set higher standards for paid opportunities. Everything is getting more expensive these days, so artist wages and funding needs to reflect that.

Nicole Salcedo is a Cuban American interdisciplinary artist born, raised and based in Miami, Florida. Nicole earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied fibers, performance and object design with her main practice being in drawing. Using meditative marks to create dense patterns, Nicole weaves between micro and macro lines, opening up rhythmic pathways that offer a deeper connection to the energies which flow throughout the universe.