Nicole Deponte is an abstract mixed media artist whose paintings investigate the relationships between color, light, pattern, and form. She received her BFA in Sculpture from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 2000, where an interdisciplinary education fostered a lasting curiosity for material, composition, and spatial relationships. Although formally trained as a sculptor, she discovered that painting offered the freedom to construct, layer, and reshape space through color and collage. She has maintained a professional studio practice since 2003 and currently works from her studio in Providence, Rhode Island, alongside her artist-owned boutique and gallery, Asterfields. Her work has received numerous regional and national awards and is held in private collections throughout the United States.

Color is both my material and my language. I've been captivated by color for as long as I can remember—not only by its beauty, but by its ability to shift, surprise, and transform. I am fascinated by the way colors influence one another: how they vibrate, soften, or suddenly become luminous as daylight fades. These quiet transformations are at the heart of my work, inviting each painting to reveal something new with changing light and repeated viewing.

My process is intuitive, playful, and rooted in exploration. I build each composition through layers of paint, collage, and pattern, balancing crisp-edged shapes against loose, atmospheric washes. I add, remove, rearrange, and respond, allowing each painting to evolve through a process of discovery. The conversation between structure and spontaneity creates compositions that feel both intentional and unexpected.

Color theory guides every decision I make. Each hue is selected for the relationships it creates with the colors around it. Pattern establishes rhythm, while layered geometric and organic forms create movement and shifting spaces that remain open to interpretation. Rather than telling a single story, I want each painting to offer endless possibilities for seeing.

I think of every painting as a choose-your-own-adventure. There is no single place to begin and no fixed destination. I hope viewers wander through the work, discovering unexpected connections, hidden moments, and new visual relationships each time they return.

Above all, I want my paintings to bring joy. I hope they spark curiosity, encourage close looking, and remind us that wonder can be found in the simple act of experiencing color.