NICOLÁS FACUNDO-RICO

Bogotá, Colombia. 1976

I've had a life long relationship with art, my mother is a fine artist and her father was an architect, he was a decisive influence in my childhood. From her I received the creative spirit of our ancestors; they conceived existence as poetic and full of meaning. She led me trough example on to a path of deft hands and industrious mind.
That is how I came to be an artist, by being her son. Growing up in a family that has creative expressions made me who I am; ever around people with a powerful drive for the aesthetic, art for me was life-spontaneous. I am told my first painting was done with nail polish on my parents' bed sheet, I was nearly a year old.
As a child I played with chemistry equipment, boiling things and mixing ingredients to make strange concoctions... I wanted to be an alchemist and mage. I know no other way of living than being who I am, an artist. A painter all my life, eyes seeking the beauty and horror of the world... I am a watcher. I started early and spent countless hours creating cryptic alphabets, rolls of magical figures and ineffable characters. I filled book after book with my notes and designs -all in secret.

My father taught me the Greek myths and the constellations together, and inspired me always to be poetic and noble, to love with generous heart, he delights in working with wood and made me a tree house, much later on a bed and my jewelry benches. He is first and foremost an airplane pilot, and imparted on me that life is like your own ship to steer into calm waters or to crash on the rocks in utter darkness...
He gave me plenty of encouragement: I learned calligraphy on my own with a set that he brought me. I've made manuscript books and many embellished documents since. When I was twelve he took me for my birthday to Mexico to visit the ruins in Yucatan; I was for someone still in high school quite an expert in Maya archeology. I'm fascinated by seals and stamps and enjoy carving them, this made want to learn new techniques. Always had a delight in everything ancient, eagerly collecting treasures from a tender age, surely this came from my father's love of art and reverence for knowledge.

I didn't much enjoy or appreciate the experience of going to school, being as I am: a hermit and back then a misfit at heart. I went to a number of them, spent the longest time in the all-boys, private, Roman Catholic one... it was dreadful but prepared me nevertheless to deal with society and its denizens of snobs. Eventually we found a nice one, where they made real demands on your intellect and had a strong emphasis on artistic expression and independent thought. Still I made some of my dearest friends in those years, while stuck there in such unlikely company. We saw ourselves as ancient souls shrouded in young bodies, like fallen angels or creatures of magic braving rough times!

Colombia is a place steeped in spiritual lore and growing up there gave me an interest in esoteric learning, I savor the subject of the occult and religions. While in high school in 1991 I was introduced to Master Francisco Piņeros and became an apprentice jeweler. It gave me the skills needed to really express myself and channel my energy through. Working with fire and tools, precious metals and gems I grew up and developed a relationship with these elements. Seven years after my Master told me I was ready and had become a master myself. I was honoured when he asked me to teach engraving to his other students. By 1995 I had become a promising jeweler and established with my own atelier. Between 1996 and 1998 I attended the faculty of Arts and Humanities at Los Andes University in Bogotá, first enrolled in the Fine Arts program and later on focusing on Social Sciences.

In 1999 I came to Canada with our family. In 2001 I graduated in digital media design from IAOD in Toronto. Became a citizen in 2003 and established NIC Objects d'Art, a jewellery venture in partnership with my brother Santiago. Focused on custom work, I collaborate with designers and carry out private commissions. I create digital imagery and 3D models, prototypes for jewelry using a CNC mill, and I play with Photoshop - a lot.
I'm good making things come from the abstract into the manifest, wrought out of precious metal and gems. My inspiration comes from various sources. I look at nature, the past, literature and spirituality. I am not confined to any technique in particular I feel all ideas require their own means of expression so I'm not afraid to combine traditional techniques with new technology. I'm just as comfortable painting with oils as I am working with digital images. When it comes to jewelry I have been able to bridge the gap between CAD design and classic bench work jewellery.

Over the years I've lived in different neighbourhoods in Toronto and enjoy working from home, lately I moved to the Queen West area.
In the last few months I've been working mainly on black ink drawings.


03.24.2010