Erika Nielsen

ERIKA NIELSEN, CELLIST AND ARTIST Erika Nielsen's multi-faceted creative background as a cellist, artist, and author plays a unique role in the work she creates. Her current body of paintings, Emergence, explores the boundaries between painting, texture, and sculpture, and the tension between structure and fluidity using additive and reductive techniques in acrylic medium on panel. Erika formally studied abstract painting with Rob Nicholls and encaustic painting with Cortney Stephenson at OCAD University, where she completed her Certificate in Art and Design Studio Skills in 2020. A lifelong visual artist, Erika is a graduate of the Creative Arts Focus Program at the Queen Elizabeth Collegiate Vocational Institute in Kingston, under the guidance of Karen Peperkorn. She maintains her practice at her Dupont Street painting studio just down the street from her home music studio in Toronto. She has participated in exhibitions both nationally and internationally. In addition to visual arts, Erika is a passionate, wholehearted performer known for her "vibrant cello playing". She has an accomplished career as a chamber musician, collaborative artist, orchestral player, and educator. Erika brings focused, heartfelt playing to every performance, with a musicianship that spans from Baroque and Classical traditions to contemporary and popular genres. She is also the author of the multiple-award-winning and #1 bestselling memoir and wellness guide, Sound Mind. Her musician bio and more information about her career as a cellist and author can be found at www.celloerika.com