The Worlds We Create
Series Statement
The Worlds We Create is a conceptual portrait series that investigates how belief, perception, and internal narratives shape the realities individuals inhabit. The work examines the relationship between thought and experience, considering how subjective worlds are constructed, reinforced, and transformed through interpretation.
Each portrait presents a figure accompanied by imagery suggestive of expansive inner landscapes—symbolic environments that visualize the unseen frameworks through which meaning is produced. Rather than depicting fixed psychological states, the series approaches consciousness as fluid and generative, capable of both constraint and expansion. The work positions perception not as passive reception, but as an active force in shaping lived reality.
Through symbolic form and metaphor, The Worlds We Create constructs a visual inquiry into how assumptions, beliefs, and internal stories influence identity, agency, and possibility. The series invites viewers to reflect on the narratives they carry and to consider how those narratives shape the worlds they experience.
Personal Context
This series emerged from an ongoing inquiry into how belief systems influence meaning-making and human behavior. Grounded in lived experience and sustained observation, the work reflects an interest in how individuals internalize narratives—about themselves, others, and the world—and how those narratives come to structure perception and action.
While the work is informed by introspection, it extends beyond the personal to engage broader philosophical questions about consciousness, authorship, and the role of interpretation in shaping reality. The series is situated at the intersection of art and philosophy, where internal experience and symbolic representation converge.
Exhibitions / Collections
The Worlds We Create was presented in full as a solo exhibition at Center Stage Gallery. Individual works from the series have also been included in group exhibitions, including Kaleidoscope and Faces and Figures at Covet Art Gallery, Oceanside, CA. The majority of works are held in private collections.
Watch the video below to hear Nicole share her personal insights and inspiration behind The Worlds We Create series.
