I grew up having a knack for drawing. But I only stumbled again upon my love of visual art in the chaos of 2020, sketching the worn faces of old men and coastal scenes on Block Island with a ballpoint pen. This portfolio, a collection of my work since those days, is, among many things, very experimental. I am always looking to understand new mediums, and the role they want to play in the stories I want to tell. Somewhere along the line, though, oil became the medium I most trusted to tell them. Oil is slow to anger, forgiving to its core. In casting my favored composition, people, those are rather sought after qualities.
I like to paint people with something to say. Whose minds are occupied by life and whose lives are occupied by history. I often take inspiration from films and pictures, often from the geographies I currently find fascinating. It can be an eclectic bunch. But if I had to say what binds them together is shared human struggle. Lech Wales, Sister Mary, confessions in Bosnia during wartime, the city boy from Tehran in the Kurdish village, the Orange picker in southern Lebanon in 1982, even Keynes and Friedman. All, like their artist, trying to make sense of this insane world.
I made this website to share my work. If you enjoy anything you see, do not hesitate to reach out. Thanks for reading.
– Nick
Rhodes Scholarship story on me
Brown Daily Herald story on my Bob Healy portrait
Contact me: nsanzi14@gmail.com
Nicholas George Sanzi 