Nicholli Matheny

Fine Artist, Appalachian Activist, Depicting of the Metaphysical  

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     Nicholli Matheny was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia. She graduated from Capital High School in 2015, and moved to Philadelphia that Fall. There, Nicholli attended Moore College of Art and Design where she majored in Fine Art. While earning her BFA, she interned with the Center For Emerging Visual Artists, a nonprofit with a mission to elevate and expand opportunities for emerging artists. With CFEVA, she assisted with gallery and exhibition preparation, as well as handling and installing artworks in diverse mediums.  Nicholli also worked as an artists assistant in CFEVA’s Senior Partnership Initiative, and was mentored in the process of coordinating the enrichment, funding, and proposing of ideas for community outreach programs. There, she fell in love with art making impact in the community as well as for those curating or creating it.  

     In addition to her interest in nonprofits,  Nicholli works in mixed-media. Primarily working in oil paints, gauche, ceramic, metal, and wood; she stays connected to her roots by using Bituminous Coal as a medium. Coal has a loaded history in Southern Appalachia, especially for Nicholli’s home state. The coal is used as surface treatments and paint mixtures, created from smashing and grinding it to dust. Coal activates her art by making direct reference to the environmental and economic consequences of mining, and contributes to narratives of destruction, redemption, decay, and growth; which frequently surface in all of Nicholli’s work.