Nikolas Soren Goodich explores the paradoxes of human perception and consciousness through a body of work that blends painting, printmaking, sculpture, and architectural installation. His practice centers on hand mono-printed works on glass and plexiglass, layered on canvas or within LED-lit frames. These pieces are luminous compositions that exist as both object and experience, constantly shifting with light and perspective. His aim is to invite viewers into a deeper contemplation of identity, healing, and interconnectedness.
A Personal and Universal Lens
Born in Los Angeles and of biracial Black and Jewish heritage, Goodich engages his personal identity as a foundation for broader questions of humanity. Using symbolic figuration and organic abstraction, he creates metaphoric portraits that reflect not only the individual but also the universal. His works offer a space to reflect on how we see ourselves, how we see others, and how we might evolve through that awareness.
Double Inverted Portraits and Luminous Symmetries
Goodich’s dual series, Double Inverted Portraits and Luminous Symmetries, serves as mirror of reality, emotion, memory, and time. These abstracted figures, often twinned and in schematic profiles, dissolve the boundaries between self and other, personal and collective. Rendered as glowing avatars, they become portraits of the psyche, vessels for memory, and luminous maps for healing.
Luminous Mysteries at MOAH
His solo museum exhibition Luminous Mysteries/Human Symmetries at the Lancaster Museum of Art and History in 2024 captured the full scope of this vision. With recurring visual themes of symmetry and inversion, the works in the show invite the viewer to encounter themselves, not through realistic representation, but through essence and reflection. Informed by ancient philosophy and contemporary psychology, the exhibition served as a meditative space where viewers could explore questions of consciousness, trauma, and transformation.
A Medium of Light and Transformation
Goodich’s process is both tactile and ethereal. Each artwork begins with mono-printing direct, one-of-a-kind transfers onto plexiglass or kiln-fired glass. These prints are then layered into sculptural forms that glow from within, merging material and light. The result is a piece that operates on multiple levels: aesthetic, symbolic, and psychological. Through this innovative fusion, he offers viewers not a static image but an experience, one that shifts with movement, light, and mood.
The Luminous Community Center
Extending this vision into the public realm, Goodich has developed a proposal for a monumental, traveling installation titled The Luminous Community Center. This architectural glass-based public art project, conceived in collaboration with an international team of professionals, is designed as a socially engaged space for contemplation, gathering, and healing. Created at a monumental scale and powered by light, the installation is intended to activate communal spaces and offer an immersive environment for collective reflection.
A Journey Through Prestigious Institutions
Goodich’s academic path has been equally immersive and wide-ranging. He studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and ultimately earned a BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2019. This foundation of classical training, layered with decades of experimentation, has allowed him to merge traditional media with new materials and methods.
Exhibitions Across the Globe
His exhibitions span major cities and international venues. Solo exhibitions include Luminous Mysteries/Human Symmetries at Startup Art Fair San Francisco (2025), the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (2024), and earlier shows at Gallery 169 in Santa Monica, Coagula Curatorial Gallery in Los Angeles and Miami, and the Startup Artfair in Venice, California.
His two-person and group exhibitions have taken him to Berlin, New York, Tokyo, Karlsruhe, The Hague, and numerous galleries and institutions across California. In 2024 alone, his work was featured in Embracing Diasporic Art: Portraits of Joan Agajanian Quinn at ReflectSpace in Glendale, Some Trees at Baldwin Avenue Gallery, the 23rd Japan International Art Exhibition in Tokyo, and Divergent Synthesis at the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles. He has also been shown continuously at the Chiefs and Spirits Gallery in The Hague, where he is represented.
A Global Artistic Presence
His presence in both national and international art scenes reflects the universal appeal of his message: art as a mirror, a healing space, and a language for the unseen. His works reside in private collections across the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, and Brazil.
Conclusion: Art as Inner Illumination
Nikolas Soren Goodich’s art is a visual and emotional language that speaks to the mystery of being. Through glowing materials and introspective forms, he guides the viewer toward a deeper understanding of self and society. His work reminds us that reflection is not just a surface activity, it is a necessary journey inward, one that can lead us to greater awareness, empathy, and transformation.
