Familiar Mechanisms II

Combining digital photography, light painting and collage, Familiar Mechanisms II turns the self-portrait into an abstract study of recognition. Developed in dialogue with John Berger’s writing on portraiture, the work follows an anonymous “everyman” figure at a moment of illumination: difference remains visible, yet the body also reveals a shared human structure beneath social codes and adornment. Nichols does not erase identity; instead, he asks how portraiture can hold individuality and commonality at once.