Niki Katiki is a self taught artist who, for the most part, expresses herself through abstract art. Over the years -of course- this abstract painter has passed from one style to the other, which is only natural, since she started painting as a child.

The techniques used for her work can vary from oil to acrylic, from watercolor and gouache to mixed media, from rough surfaces created by the use of impasto colors or palette knife to the incorporation of different materials. She is always open to new ways of expression and never ceases to experiment and explore new means of artistic and depictive creation.

In her early years she has experimented with still-life, portraits, landscapes. But it wasn’t until she began to express herself through abstract art that she found her true essence as an artist.

Indeed, for 25 years her work had been strictly abstract. Consequently, she mastered her art with remarkable skill and she created a very unique and distinguishable style through the many turns and different phases her art undertook.

Although the spectacular use of colors, contrasts and shadows, the playful use of diagonals creating a solid sense of perspective and the multiple levels of volume and texture continue to create her unique works, she lately altered her style: In fact she started creating semi-abstract paintings in which the theme is recognizable as a whole even if one cannot identify distinctive details.

Side by side with her purely abstract works we now find expressionistic landscapes, seascape, cityscape, surrealistic and modern paintings. Different themes depicted in various versions create series of works.

But regardless of the series each work belongs to, there are features and characteristics common to every painting, creating her unique personal style. The balance between light and shadow, cold and warm colors, the volumetric structure of the composition and the textured surface are some of the typical characteristics of her work, that create the impressive and powerful paintings.

Most of all, though, this atmosphere is provoked by the use of light. Indeed a dramatic, theatrically staged, inner light becomes the centerpiece, the focus of each and every work of her last period. A mystic contrast between light and dark areas of the painting create a sense of inner ease and serenity that is overwhelming.

Statement

I cannot imagine my life without art!!! Art is my life, my passion, my safe-haven.

I find art larger than life, since not only it contains my entire life, but through art, I create whatever I have the need of, and cannot find it in my real environment. I create everything I need and don’t seem to be able to find in my every day world. I draw into reality all the space and situations real life deprives me of. Lately I have an urge for calm and serenity and since I can’t find these features in my real world I create either abstract spaces or landscapes in which light and color in a contradicting harmony soothe soul and mind.

There is no lack, no deficiency, no shortage in my life that cannot be filled with my art. Standing in front of a canvas doesn’t merely lead to the creation of an artwork but also enables me to actually complete real life. Not only do I express my emotions, but also I create new ones both for me and the viewer.

Finding the shapes and colors that fit my mood, playing with lights and shadows, expressing my feelings is no longer enough. Art, whether abstract or not, is not only a means of expression, it’s a means of creating new fascinating worlds, in which I can communicate with my audience as well as with my inner thoughts.

It’s a kind of magic…