Nikolas Soren Goodich

Nikolas Soren Goodich: Luminous Mysteries Human Symmetries

“When we look into mirrors, what do we see? Who do we see? Can we choose to look deeper? And by making that choice, can we finally begin to heal from trauma? Greek philosopher Socrates said, ‘Know Thyself.’ How can we know ourselves better without both literally and figuratively looking at who we really are...individually, and as a species?”

- Nikolas Soren Goodich

I explore paradoxes of human perception and consciousness, using symmetry and asymmetry, in hand mono-printed works on glass and plexiglass. Layering plexiglass and kiln fired glass panels, either on canvas or in frames embedded with LED lights, results in luminous glass works that operate simultaneously as print, painting, and sculpture, and which can also become a form of architectural installation and public art.

My two current bodies of work, Double Inverted Portraits and Luminous Symmetries, use symbolic figuration married to organic abstraction as metaphors for our place in the universe; mirrors of reality, of how we see ourselves, and of how we see others.

LA-based art critic/curator/author Shana Nys Dambrot writes in her catalogue essay for my 2024 solo museum exhibition, Luminous Mysteries Human Symmetries, just published by Lancaster Museum of Art and History(MOAH):

“Playing endlessly with the infinite alchemies of symmetry and asymmetry, self and other, self and the mirror, self and the shadow, Goodich channels the various invisible forces with which he communes into highly abstracted portraits. Rendered in schematic profile, almost always twinned, sometimes back-to-back, sometimes face to face, ostensibly non- gendered, never and always himself, these avatars of interdimensional and interconnected consciousness are vessels for autobiography in community, armatures for abstract expressionism, portraits of the psyche, and beacons in the dark.”

- Shana Nys Dambrot

With a team of international public art professionals and mentors, I’ve developed a proposal for a socially engaged, monumental scale, traveling, temporary installation, architectural luminous glass public art project, The Luminous Community Center.

Learn more at: luminouscommunitycenter.org

Nikolas Soren Goodich is a biracial, Black and Jewish, Los Angeles native represented by galleries in Los Angeles and The Hague, Netherlands, with work in private collections in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and The European Union.