Niclas Kruger

Assistant Professor of Art

Library / Art 25 Ph: (949)854 8002 ext:2021
niclas.kruger@cui.edu 
See my Resume/Curriculum Vitae

Degrees Earned

Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA, B.F.A., 1995;
Cal State Fullerton, M.F.A., 2002

Professional Experience

Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Beach, CA, 1998 - 2004
Cal State Fullerton, 2001-2002
Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA, 2003 - 2007.
Resident Professor of Art, Concordia University, Irvine, CA, 2003-2007
Assistant Professor of Art, Concordia University, Irvine, CA, 2007- present

Biography

Born and raised in Sweden I was early learning about different art forms from my mother who is an artist. I subsequently went on to study art in Austria, Germany and France. The fundamental approach to art is, at its core, learning to see differently, and by extension, to think differently. The process is about technique, but the goal – the outcome – is to develop a different way of experiencing the world, and of evaluating that which we experience. In that sense it is not unlike learning to speak a foreign language. It gives us a different way of formulating thought, formulating knowledge. As a European who has lived and worked in many different countries with different languages and cultures, I have learned that knowledge, and therefore understanding, can be framed in many different ways. By using painting and drawing as a means to express myself I use a language that often proves to be powerful. My paintings depict traces of reactions, feelings, and other signs of what takes place emotionally between people. I aim to manifest a certain degree of tension. As I consciously develop visual commentaries on the canvas, I try to cover universal themes such as love, distress, separation, pain, joy, isolation, complacency… all feelings that are part of our human existence.