about us
About Nicholas A. Ferguson
Nicholas A. Ferguson (NAF) is a London-based figurative and portrait painter working under the name Atelier NAF, known for paintings that explore identity, presence, and the emotional complexity of human experience.
Working primarily in oil and acrylic, Nicholas approaches painting as a space for reflection, presence, and enquiry. His work sits within the tradition of figurative and portrait painting while responding to the experience of contemporary life. Using the human figure, atmosphere, and symbolism, his paintings explore inner states, memory, and the psychological depth that lies beneath surface appearances.
His paintings often develop through intuitively formed bodies of work, many of which carry autobiographical elements. Through these collections, painting becomes a way of understanding the world he inhabits — exploring the emotional landscape of being human.
Welcome to the atelier!
Portraiture as Dialogue
Portraiture forms an important strand of Nicholas’s practice. For him, portrait painting is not simply the act of recording likeness, but a dialogue between artist and sitter.
Each portrait develops through sustained observation, conversation, and attention. Personality, mood, memory, and lived experience all play a role in shaping the image. Rather than directing the outcome too rigidly, Nicholas allows the painting to unfold through a process of intuitive attention, enabling the work to move beyond description and towards presence.
The resulting portraits seek to capture not only how a person appears, but something of their inner atmosphere and character as it emerges through the act of painting.
Portrait commissions are welcomed where there is a genuine connection to the work and the process.
Icons of London — A Portrait Series
Nicholas’s current project, Icons of London, is an ongoing portrait series celebrating individuals who shape the cultural life of the city he has called home for over two decades.
Through painted portraits, the project aims to create a living archive of London — capturing both well-known figures and the personalities whose creativity, character, and individuality define the city’s communities.
un peu de NAF
Nicholas is British and Swiss. His work has been exhibited in galleries and collected internationally.
exhibitions
- 2026: “Icons of London” part of a group show @ The Art Pavilion, London
- 2025: 'syzygy' solo @ 54 Seymour Villas, london
- 2024: group show @ the ballery, berlin
- 2024: open studio @ GlogauAIR, berlin
- 2023: ‘perspective’ solo @ the Coningsby Gallery, london
- 2022: duo show @ Zari Gallery, london.
- 2021: group show @ Downstairs at the Department Store, london
residencies
- 2024: jan - march @ GlogauAIR, berlin awards