Nikolai Alexander Phalen is a multidisciplinary artist hailing from Phoenix, Arizona. Siberian born and Arizona raised—the extremes between these locales seem somehow evident in his work. Adopted by Americans as a young child he is interested in exploring themes of identity, individual diaspora, story-telling, the role of media in how we view the world, and the pervasive extrapolation of humanity by the machine of capitalism. His work is often focused on the violently transformational, and frequently studies mortality and its role in meaning making. Whether working with found-footage to create abstract self-portraits of an inner turmoil, writing genre-bending poetry that breaks convention, creating experimental electronic music about werewolf-escorts eating their clients, or painting abstract paintings using freshwater pearls, knives and fire—there is a unique bizarreness and intensity that he is attracted to and reciprocally is somehow attracted to him. Existing somewhere between the abstract, the confessional, and the conceptual—it is in this undefinable limboland that he finds he is most at home.

Recent Updates…

Nikolai is currently living in Barcelona. He has had paintings in Galleries in Tulum, Mexico. Has been apart of a myriad of exhibitions, as a sound artist, a painter and recently as a writer. He has published a poetry collection and soon will release his second poetry collection, Climax in Electric Blue.

If you have any questions or want to collaborate don’t hesitate to reach out. Check out the contact page or hit me up on instagram.