IG: @nickdornellas
b. 1997 Georgetown, Guyana
Nicholas D’Ornellas (b. 1997) is a Guyanese-born printmaker and weaver based in Jersey City, NJ. He holds a BFA (2021) from The Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art. His focus includes printmaking as a vehicle to explore domestic life within immigrant narratives through life-sized, handwoven, screen-printed textiles. Nick’s work pays homage to his ongoing interest in the functionality of craft and also his family’s flight from racial and classist violence in Guyana. He physically threads together the layered emotions that come with being within a deeply consuming family structure. Nick’s hand weaving can be understood as both rehearsal and transformation of memory.
EDUCATION
2021 — Cooper Union For The Advancement of Science & Art, Bachelor of Fine Art, New York NY
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
2023 — Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Artist Fellow, Amherst, VA
2019 — Penland School of Craft, Weaving Workshop, Bakersville, NC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 — but still bearing visible, Chashama 266, New York, NY
2024 — Interwoven, BOB’S Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2023 — I Would Prefer Not To, Art150, Jersey City, NJ
2023 — Illiquid Objects, Studio Nine Dee, New York, NY
2023 — Remnants of Another, Twelve Gates Arts, Philadelphia PA
2022 — Maverick, Magician, Muse, Deli Gallery, New York NY
2021 — A Message from the Underground, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City NJ
2021 — AND LET THE SUN SEE IT ♢ Y QUE EL SOL LA VEA, 41 Cooper Gallery, New York NY
2021 — OLA, Cooper Union, New York NY
2020 — The Fog of Memory, Redline Satellite, Denver CO
2019 — Revisiting Jerseyscapes, Harold B. Lemmerman Gallery, Jersey City NJ
2019 — ORIGINS, Snapdragon Coffee & Social, Jersey City NJ
2019 — Show & Tell, Northlight Gallery, Bakersville NC
2018 — EOYS Showcase, Cooper Union, New York NY
2018 — Fall Printmaking Show, Cooper Union, New York NY
2017 — SOL.STUDIOS, Eileen S. Kaminsky Foundation, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City NJ
2016 — UN/NATIVE, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City NJ
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
June 2023 — ‘Remnants of Another’ at Twelve Gates Arts, Vriddhi Vinay for artblog, online publication
December 2022 — Field Notes—Artist Interview, warp and weft magazine, online publication
January 2022 — “A message from the Underground at Mana Contemporary,” Maria De Los Angeles for ART SPIEL, online publication
October 2021 — “My Adrian No.1,” Suzanne Persard for the Digital Archive of the Indentured Diaspora, online publication
ARTIST TALKS
2023 — 2nd Diaspora Conference—Hosted by the University of Guyana, Georgetown, Guyana
2022 — EMPOWERING THE SOURCE with Printmaker-Weaver Nick D’Ornellas—Podcast Hosted by Zak Foster, online publication
2020 — How to Be Your Own Art Historian—Artist Talk Hosted by Dr. Sue Shon, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver CA
WORK EXPERIENCE
2023-Current — Printmaking Area Manager, CUNY Hunter College, Department of Art & Art History, New York NY
2021-2023 — Screenprinting Assistant for Gary Lichtenstein Editions, MANA Contemporary, Jersey City NJ
2018-2019 — Artist Assistant to Cynthia Alberto, The Weaving Hand, Brooklyn NY
2018-2019 — Program Assistant, Cooper Union Outreach Program, New York NY
TEACHING
2023 — Block Printing on Textiles Workshop, Two Color Linocut Printing Workshop, JC Print Room, Jersey City, NJ
2018-2020 — Drawing TA, Outreach Pre-College Program, Cooper Union School of Art, New York NY
2019 — Drawing Teacher in Residence, A Farms in the Heights Program, Riverview Farmers Market, Jersey City NJ
2019 — Linoleum Pattern Printing Workshop, JC Arts High School Program, Jersey City NJ
2017 — Artist Mentor, Sol.Studios, Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation, Jersey City NJ
AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS
2024 — New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellow, Mid Atlantic Arts
2023 — YoungArts Creative Microgrant, YoungArts The National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists
2023 — Individual Artist Fellowship Grant, Jersey City Arts Council
2021 — Richard Lewis Bloch Memorial Prize, Cooper Union School of Art
2017 — Hosfeld Gift Art School, Student Affairs at Cooper Union
2016 — Recipient of Full Tuition Scholarship, Cooper Union
2016 — Anthony S. Guadadiello Memorial Art Scholarship, Jersey City Board of Education
Website by Dina Noya