Annie Frost Nicholson Paints The People Shes Lost Back Into The Same Room

Creative Boom: Inspiration Art & Culture Annie Frost Nicholson paints the people she's lost back into the same room The London-based artist has spent years making grief accessible in the public realm – but her most personal work yet uses colour, old photographs and a little painterly sleight of hand to collapse the distance between the past and present. Written By: Ayla Angelos 2 April 2026 Juicy Booth © Annie Frost Nicholson. Photography: John Sturrock For Annie Frost Nicholson, a sense of place is a key thread running through her artistic practice.

Having grown up in the countryside, her dad moved to southern Portugal – followed by her mum – and Annie later set off for Sydney to live with her sister. Not long after, she moved back to the UK to study languages, spending time in Paris and eventually settling in London, where she has lived for the past 20-odd years.

Along the way, she studied at London College of Communication and Goldsmiths, and worked at the BFI – "one of my best jobs," she says, "because of the creative community I found there." Though she had always been making, it wasn't until the loss of her parents and her sister that she started working more publicly – "which really shaped the journey I've gone on creatively and I suppose the way I see the world." Annie's first ventures were in paste-ups, a method that involves layering publication pages, to challenge ideas around mental health and grief, "by telling stories which would hopefully make these complex subjects more accessible", she

notes. She was offered spaces to paint in the public realm and responded to briefs – from the Southbank Centre's CALM commission on loss, to plastering the floor of City Hall for World Mental Health Day and the Staircase of Dreams for the London Design Festival. Her practice evolved into bespoke multisensory installations built with a team, including the beloved Fandangoe Discoteca and Juicy Booth. But in more recent years, she's returned to painting, turning to the places where her family members were alive – such as Portugal and Sydney – for inspiration.

"It is by far the most enjoyable and satisfying era I've been in, in terms of my practice. Partly because the process is private for a long time, which gives me more time, space and distance to ruminate," she says. And My Mother Said to Me, Enjoy Your Life © Annie Frost Nicholson We See Things They’ll Never See © Annie Frost Nicholson So What Are You Going to Do Now © Annie Frost Nicholson Annie uses objects, ephemera, old analogue photographs, notes, letters, and text messages to inform how she creates her pieces and the worlds she's building within them. "I love to hear about the minutiae of family stories and dynamics.

One of my best friends and I in Sydney talk for hours and hours about our family lives, behaviours, anecdotes, ways of being, and how we see the world. I find it endlessly fascinating, and it always helps me to understand people better, knowing their context." She adds: "I love to hear about how your third cousin once removed behaved at a family party – and try to imagine all of the gestures involved." Family is an important pillar of her practice, whether that's her blood relatives or her friends.

Article truncated for readability. Read the full piece →

The article discusses a unique artistic approach that can significantly influence brand strategy, particularly in fostering emotional connections, making it impactful and relevant, though the concept of storytelling in branding is not entirely new.