Nick Alm was born 1985 in Eksjö, Sweden. In 2007 he entered the Florence Academy of Art, where he also held a position as teaching assistant. After graduating in 2010, he received a scholarship to join The Hudson River Fellowship. The following year, he studied with the Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum in Norway and in France before returning to Sweden. At present he has his studio in Stockholm.
Nick Alm has received several honors and awards. He exhibited in The Portrait Society of America in Philadelphia in 2012, where he was awarded the Exceptional Merit Award. In 2013, he won the First Place Prize in ARC’s International Salon, followed by the William Bouguereau Award. In 2017, he was awarded the TIAC Art Price and the Purchase Price of the International ARC Salon.
What I aim for as a painter is to make my artwork vibrant with life. The human figure has always been at the center of my work which I try to capture with a great sense of light, atmosphere and texture. I prefer to work directly from life instead of using a camera.
A photograph is just an interpretation of life that lacks the subtle colour and value shifts and the interesting changes in nature. Instead of copying the object in front of me, I simplify, rearrange and add my own vision.
My main source of inspiration comes from the contemporary world around me. I aim to communicate what is inherently and universally human, transcending cultural codes and specific trends. I interpret whatever awakens me to something extra in my surroundings, from the context itself to the details, the psychological tension between people, a state of mind, a mood or an opportunity to express painterly joy.
View Nick Alm Paintings
It’s not my goal to criticize or change society; instead my work addresses itself primarily to the inner world of the individual. Hopefully my work will offer the viewer a break from everyday life, evoking a sense of recognition that leads to a moment of reflection, or perhaps inciting a creative urge.