"Memory as Structure and Composition" by Nichole Riley

Nichole Riley’s current practice explores memory, trauma, and the fragmentary ways the past shapes the present. Her work evolved from early experiments in writing and layering materials, where memory surfaced through fragile media such as wax, rice paper, and screen-printed layers. These investigations allowed her to embrace imperfection, letting hidden recollections emerge as both seen and unseen.

Riley’s recent work manifests in watercolor paintings grounded in Islamic geometric patterning. Drawing on the historical use of geometry as a non-figurative means to express the infinite, sacred, and universal, she interprets these structures as a metaphor for shared humanity. The patterns reflect symmetry, repetition, balance, and interconnection—fundamental structures that are shaped by personal experience and memory.

Using watercolor’s transparency, luminosity, and unpredictability, Riley embraces chance, fragility, and impermanence. Color blooms, edges blur, and “mistakes” become integral to the work, mirroring the delicate interplay between memory, identity, and lived experience. Through these geometric forms, her paintings create moments of stillness and presence, inviting viewers to reflect and recognize both themselves and each other within the pattern.

Riley’s work continues to explore the tension between order and chaos, universality and individuality, showing that difference can be seen not as fracture but as an embellishment of shared structure. Ultimately, her practice seeks to transform memory and geometry into spaces for connection, reflection, and recognition.