For Luke Norman and Nik Adam – better known as artist duo Luke & Nik – 2020’s many and multifarious challenges presented an exciting new opportunity. They began to go out into nature, camera in-hand, to find a new sense of purpose. “The way that we’ve responded to tough times this year has been with a sense of escapism. It’s been a creative release,” Nik tells us.
The natural landscape has long played an important role in their personal work, whether that be building organic sculptures in a coastal landscape or the vibrant hue of a flower. But with a wealth of time and a slow-down in other engagements, their interaction with the world outside stepped up a notch. And interestingly, they began to see a similar shift in the work of their peers. “We’ve seen make-up artists we admire, or work with regularly, start to do things on themselves, using their own faces as their canvas,” Luke continues. “So we put it to them. We asked: what is your creative escapism?”