Chesterfield Arts Exhibit Captures Spontaneity of Artistic Process

For Eric Nichols, art is all about the process. His mixed media pieces, which layer two-dimensional images and objects into three-dimensional compositions, involve a lot of spontaneity and improvisation.

"I really don't ever know what exactly I'm going to make," Nichols said. "It all begins with either some spray paint or some acrylic, or even just something on the floor that I spilled something on and looked interesting."

Nichols's work is the newest exhibit at called "Transitions." The theme of the show deals with the transition from two-dimensional to three-dimensional, and the layering of different media and processes.

The pieces in the show are colorful and abstract, some with a sort of stencil look using found objects, others with digital images or photos transferred onto a gelatinous surface.

"Since I use so many different types of material and the process is kind of spontaneous, I never know how the material's going to work together if I just left it," Nichols said. "The epoxy that I pour over it seals it, protects it and kind of brings it all together and creates little more depth and makes the colors more vibrant."

Nichols started his art career as a ceramics artist, earning a bachelor's of fine arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and a master's at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He taught at St. Louis Community College, Meramec for a few years, and did some work with St. Louis Art Works and other projects both public and private. Nichols' studio is at Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center, and he lives in Benton Park near the thriving arts community of Cherokee Street. He is originally from the East Coast, but has called St. Louis home since 1985.

He made the switch to painting and then to mixed media over the last three years because he needed to strike out in a new direction and add some variety to his artistic process, he said.

"I can't work just stick with one material, I like to just grab whatever's available. When I'm working on something, my studio is kind of chaotic," he said. "If…I need some sort of form to spray paint over, or I need some sort of form to apply a texture, I just look right in my general vicinity and whatever's closest to me I use, and usually it ends up working out really well."

The exhibit at Chesterfield Arts opened Friday and will run until May 14. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. It is closed on Sunday and Monday.