Nicola Green

Nicola Green
Self-portrait
Born	1972 (age 48–49)
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Edinburgh College of Art
Spouse(s)	David Lammy ​ (m. 2005)​
Website	nicolagreen.com

Nicola Green (born 1972) is a British portrait painter, social historian and public speaker. Among her subjects have been the Dalai Lama, Barack Obama, and Elle Macpherson.^[1]

In 2005, Green married David Lammy, a Labour Member of Parliament. They have three children.^[1][2]

Green has twice been among the exhibitors for the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London, in 2006 and in 2008.^[3][4]

In Seven Days[]

In 2010, Green created In Seven Days... a set of seven silk-screen prints depicting Barack Obama's 2008 presidential election campaign.^[5] Green was inspired by her mixed-heritage children to record these events for the future.^[6] She gained access to Obama’s campaign, making six trips to events, such as his nomination at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver and Inauguration in Washington D.C.^[6][7] In 2011 a set of In Seven Days...was donated to the Library of Congress; another set is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[8] This series has also been exhibited at Harvard Law School,^[9] Walker Art Gallery^[10] and Said Business School.^[11]

Encounters[]

Between 2008 and 2018 Green was a witness to interfaith meetings around the world to create Encounters. She attended gatherings of religious leaders including The Dalai Lama, Pope Francis, Ali Gomaa and Jonathan Sacks.^[12] The resulting work Encounters, is made up of two bodies of work: a series of 12 life sized portraits made from Perspex and 30 mixed media portraits.^[13] The portraits included Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Baháʼí, Jain, African Traditional, Confucian, Humanist, Shinto and indigenous leaders.^[14] Encounters was shown at the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square.^[15]

An accompanying book Encounters: The Art of Interfaith Dialogue was published by Brepols. Edited by Professor Aaron Rosen, it uses Nicola Green’s artwork to explore a variety of debates surrounding interfaith dialogue.^[16] Contributors to the book include Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Dr. Rowan Williams, Prof. David Ford OBE and Gabrielle Rifkind.^[17]

Other Projects[]

In 2012 Nicola Green was commissioned by Haringey Council and the Cultural Olympiad to make a series of portraits in honour of the Olympic Games in London. To make the work Green ran workshops with children from diverse backgrounds in the schools surrounding the Olympic Park. The children’s drawings were transformed into the final works which reflected what they found inspiring about the athletes and enabled them to see themselves in those roles.^[18]

References[]