My paintings examine the concept of home as a condition shaped by agency, chance, and broader social systems.
Using abstracted architectural forms, shifting landscapes, and recurring motifs such as houses and moving boxes, I create images that exist between abstraction and representation. Geometry and color structure the work, while these forms function as metaphors for environments in flux—reflecting displacement, transition, and self-determination. Using traditional European oil painting devices such as perspective with Modernist color theory, I construct then disrupt this exactitude with brash gestural painting.
The work considers the psychological dimensions of home in relation to belonging, stability, and change. At its core, it reflects a capacity for reinvention, where changing environments mirror the resilience required to navigate them.
Nicole Maynard is a contemporary painter who blends architectural precision and painterly abstraction to explore how social systems, chance, and human agency define the concept of home. Maynard's unique style bridges the gap between strict geometric calculation and assertive brushwork by using traditional European perspective and Modernist color theory to construct landscapes that she then intentionally disrupts.
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Maynard earned an MFA in Painting with a minor in Printmaking from the University of Pennsylvania in 1996. Career highlights include exhibiting extensively in group and solo shows throughout the Northeast and Florida, featuring seven solo exhibitions at the Bowery Gallery in New York City, and completing a long-term artist residency at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami. She currently resides and works in New Jersey, positioned between the major art hubs of Philadelphia and New York City.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
MFA, Painting (minor in Printmaking), 1996
Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston, MA
BFA, Painting and Art Education (dual major), 1993
Massachusetts College of Art & Design, Boston, MA
Graduate coursework for Teacher Certification, 2015–2016
Institute of Contemporary Art Miami Education Programs Manager, 2022–2024 | Professional development leader for Miami-Dade County public school art teachers | Teaching Artists training and supervision | Visiting Critic New World School of the Arts and Design and Architecture Senior High School (D.A.S.H.)
Miami Country Day School, Miami, FL Elementary Art Teacher (PK–5), 2019–2022
Miami International University of Art & Design, Miami, FL Professor of Fine Arts, 2018–2019 | Thesis Writing and Contemporary Art Theory and Practice for MFA students
Lafayette College, Easton, PA Professor of Fine Arts, 2001–2003
Additional teaching, visiting artist appointments, and museum education roles held at New World School of the Arts; Memorial Art Gallery (Rochester); Massachusetts College of Art & Design; New Bedford, Massachusetts Public Schools, and others.
Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL Artist-in-Residence, 2017–2023
Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA Affiliate Artist, 2026