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Nicholas\u2019 parents discovered that he had a brain tumour when\nhe was 14 months old. He can speak but what he says changes as the seizures\nchange. The titles of his works are certainly catchy, reading like\nmini-soundbites that lend an even greater sense of playfulness to the\ntechnicolour schemes of the paintings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now 23, he has had over 50,000 seizures, which strike him on\na daily basis. Yet Nicholas, despite his pain isn\u2019t tortured by his art. It is\nhis art that gives meaning to his existence. Every picture tells a story, the\nin this case, it is one of joy and a reminder that something beautiful can come\nout of adversity. Ultimately, Nicholas\u2019 story as much about a family pulling\ntogether, as it is about the abstract canvasses that explode with primary colours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They refused to take the easy option. Institutionalising his\nwas never part of the plan. When asked why they chose painting as a medium,\nNicholas\u2019 mother Krisann explains that they had a large number of paints lying\naround in an old garage cabinet. \u201cAs a youngter, Nicholas enjoyed laying down\npatterns on papers and was obsessed with vibrant colour. When no options were\nleft for Nicholas in the school\u2019s diabled working programme, mainly because of\nhis daily seizures, we were worried he would never work in his life, which was\ndevastating for us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Krisann explains that she and her husband Euthym, an\nemergency room doctor, had a lightbulb moment. He had excelled in art at high\nschool, they had paint in the garage. The school district mandated that he had\nto earn a living in the job of his choice in order for them to allow him to\npursue this at school in a job programme. As they knew he wouldn\u2019t be able to\noccupy himself with a role that would occupy his time and give him a sense of\npurpose, they had to demonstrate that he could earn a living to continue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicholas started to paint and while they showed promise, it\nwas never about making money for his family. It was about giving him a routine\nand a purpose, so he had a reason to create. The first few paintings sold fast.\nHis school allowed him to set-up a corner studio. Once he started to sell, a\nfriend suggested holding an exhibition. Krisann and Euthyn, a doctor were\nnovices in the art world, nevertheless, they showed his work which sold out\nimmediately. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Euthym explains, \u201cFor some reason, it was important to us,\nno matter how trivial it seemed in the light of his health issues, for him to\nbe part of the work force.\u201d He adds, \u201cWe had to honestly assess strengths and\nweaknesses and accept extreme limitations. In Nicholas\u2019 situation, his\nlimitations resulted in the only possibility. It was a case of \u2018Let the \u2018no\u2019s\nbe the rail tracks of what it possible.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n What the Kontaxis family have demonstrated is that love and\nsupport can overcome limitations. His mother Krisann defines him as an\n\u201coutsider artist\u201d, which rings true in the sense that he can\u2019t discuss his work\nwith his audience. But then, Milton was blind when he wrote Paradise Lost, one\nof the most evocative pieces of writing in the literary canon and would have to\nkeep the words in his head until his daughter would write them down for him.\nJean-Dominique Bauby, author of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was left\nparalysed by a stroke apart from one blinking eye. The extraordinary memoir was\ntranscribed via his left eyelid (also by his daughter). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts disagree on whether Michaelangelo had gout or\nosteoarthritis. The the famous sculptor had significant trouble using his hands\nbut continued to chisel away and paint until he was almost 89. Goya experienced\nvisual problems, dizziness and mobility issues with his painting arm bit his\nillness didn\u2019t limit his abilities, only transformed them into something more\nrobust. Paul Klee, Van Gogh, Matisse, did not let their lack of mobility dampen\ntheir spirits, it is in fact well documented that some of their symptoms may\nhave contributed to their artistic practice. Van Gogh suffered from seizures\nand was born with a brain lesion, which didn\u2019t prevent him from being one of\nthe most renowned painters in art history. Matisse referred to his\nwheelchair-bound years after cancer surgery as \u201cune seconde vie\u201d, his second\nlife, while allowed him to rethink his priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unable to travel like he used to, he saw the world and his\nart from a very different vantage point. Like Matisse, Nicholas is limited in\nhis mobility and he won\u2019t be able to travel to London for his first\ninternational exhibition, but he does experience beauty around him via the art\nhe creates with his own hands. While he may not be able to travel, his work\ndoes and because his family refused to take the easy option, he is no longer\nanonymous outside this small nucleus, bus has been commissioned by Coachella,\nAddidas and collected by international figures such as Roger Federah, who\nbought several paintings for his home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kontaxis won\u2019t be in London for his first international\nexhibition, but his work is a journey in itself; an experience of the beauty\naround him, via the art he creates with his own hands. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The paintings of Nicholas Knotaxis are making a profound mark on the art world: his solo shows have caught the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,1255],"features_issues":[],"featured_themes":[],"ppma_author":[16671],"class_list":["post-60745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-art-2","tag-design-2"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/centmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/When-She-Comes-By-12x9_2019_HR-1.jpg?resize=580%2C429\")
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