BIOGRAPHY
Niki McQueen is a visual artist based in Cape Town, South Africa, known for her richly symbolic, surreal narrative works. Her artistic voice is shaped by a lifelong passion for creativity, her challenges with disability and trauma, a childhood offset against the horror and injustices of apartheid, a background in graphic design, and a scientific career in marine biology (MSc), all of which have significantly influenced her distinctive aesthetic.
Self-taught and unbound by formal art school traditions, Niki pioneered a unique mixed-media technique during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her process fuses traditional and contemporary methods: she creates intricate digital composites from fragments of hand-drawn and historical, public domain images, prints them onto heavy archival papers, then hand-draws, paints, washes, and UV-seals each piece through a painstaking 10–12 step process. The result is a body of work that feels timeless, dreamlike, and deeply textured.
Motivated by personal experience, Niki’s work reflects her journey through late-diagnosed autism, the impacts of Long Covid, CPTSD, and profound personal losses. Deeply inspired by Jungian theory, vintage medical and biological illustrations, mythology, and classical and contemporary surrealism, her art explores archetypes, emotional landscapes, and the human condition. Each piece invites viewers to explore personal meaning, often dwelling at the edges of reason and reality.
Her extensive portfolios include Niki McQueen Art, a collection of symbolic fine artworks, and Life Beyond Reason, a lighter, more whimsical body of work that celebrates innocence, imagination, and joy. Since launching her public career in 2020, Niki has sold over 250 original artworks and commissions to local and international collectors, signed with several prominent galleries, and exhibited nationally and internationally.
She is a multiple finalist in South Africa’s Vuleka Art Competition (2021, 2022, 2024), a Sasol New Signatures Top 100 finalist (2021), and winner of the Africa Regional Award in the international Copic Awards (2021). In 2023, she represented South Africa at the Art Connects Women exhibition in Dubai.
Beyond her personal practice, Niki has collaborated with internationally acclaimed artists, including US punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, and activist and writer Nathan Monk. She collaborates closely with bestselling author, musician, human rights activist and performer Amanda Palmer, a partnership formed in 2022. She published her first book of art and poetry in 2022, and her work was featured in numerous publications, including the September 2024 issue of Suboart Magazine.
In 2024, she joined the South African women’s print collective, The Printing Girls, and continues to exhibit and sell her work through her website and notable galleries. Her Artist CV is available on her website.
Through all of her creative pursuits, Niki seeks to honour the difficult, the broken, the beautiful, and the unseen — weaving her experiences into artworks that speak to the resilience, wonder, and complexity of being human.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My artistic journey is a crucial pursuit of the truths I seek in myself, and a desire to provoke examination, and bring meaning and joy to others.
From early childhood, I came to realise that I was different from the people I knew best. The edge-places called to me—those liminal spaces where imagination dissolves into the unconscious, and the collective human spirit thrums beneath the surface of reason.
I am a surrealist mixed-media artist, and it is from these thresholds that my work is born: a visceral language where words cannot be found or do not belong, woven from a tapestry of hardship and wonder, isolation and joy.
My art is the mirror of a life lived hard — touching the depths of loss, rage, injustice, tenderness, and dream. Diagnosed late in life with autism, and shaped by chronic illness, trauma, and profound upheaval, I have learned to listen to the unspeakable stories that reside within me. Through a self-forged technique marrying digital collage with traditional handcraft, I summon symbolic narratives layered with archetype, memory, and myth.
Each piece arises from a semi-trance, a state of surrendered mind where compositions unfold intuitively—sometimes confronting, sometimes whimsical. Jarring juxtapositions, impossible meetings, tender absurdities: this is the language through which I examine the hidden, hurting, hoping places within myself and others. My process is slow, alchemical, meticulous; it may take days, weeks, or months for an artwork to reveal its full voice.
Above all, I strive for authenticity. I do not seek to decorate, but to bear witness—to explore the invisible, the wounded, the sacred. I hope my work stirs something ancient in those who encounter it: a forgotten dream, a hidden grief, an unspoken hope. Art, for me, is both ground and sky — a place to stand, a lifeline, a reason to try.
NIKI MCQUEEN, 2025
PURCHASING ARTWORK OR PRINTS
All the original work on this website is for sale unless otherwise indicated, and if you are interested in purchasing artwork, the simplest and quickest way to do so is drop us an email and we’ll arrange for a quote and send you close-up and in situ images of the work. All the info you need on purchasing work is HERE for international buyers and HERE for South African buyers.
Prints of selected works in various formats are available in Niki’s Etsy store or privately, by request.
COMMISSIONS
Niki accepts commissions on a first-come-first serve basis. She works closely with clients throughout the creation of their artworks, ensuring they are satisfied that their vision comes to life to perfection. Commissioned works vary in price, depending on the size and complexity of the piece. Pricing starts at USD $250.
For more information or to book a commission, fill in this form or email nikimcqueen@gmail.com
COMMISSION QUERY
BECOME A PATRON…
Niki has a Patreon Page for supporters and collectors who wish to assist her financially to create art, in the face of challenging medical circumstances. Niki announces print drops, releases new work and shares insights, behind the scenes snippets and work in progress images and videos on this platform. Her page is free to join, and premium content starts at $1 per month.
