Nicky Neon | kid˚MANDU

Hi,

i’m Nicky.

i am a Shaman. and i make Sacred Documents from within my Life Container.

haiku, illustration, film, deep ass conversation. if i felt called to express myself in a particular way, I always whole-heartedly gave it an honest go.

however, my first life was also filled with many challenges from complex ptsd and chronic illness to growing up poor as a Puerto Rican Korean Queer Kid˚ in a small hood somewhere in Queens, NYC. my life would often start and stop with each new challenge. i never really got where i was going because of the stops.

as i grew up, i struggled to root into my own life, running from America to Korea to America to Korea to America throughout my 20s. i was always searching for answers outside of my Self.

i have walked many lives, and i have grieved many deaths. and i have lived in the space between spaces, hidden in plain sight, most of all… from my Self.

Psychedelics had the most profound effect on my well-being. they have changed my life, they have saved my life.

i’m still on my healing journey, but i know who I am now. i am free. i move slowly and w/ intention, my heart is huge and i honor the deep feelings that come with it.

my Art reflects the stories of My Life – carrots w/ ancient wisdom (and faces), kaiju-sized spirit guardians w/ flowers growing out of their backs, small white cats in the vastness of the desert. i have always been in service of Stories – our first way of relating to one another. even before we could speak, We Painted Picture Stories to create a context for our own existence within this realm.

while it was often difficult for me to get what i truly needed from my family of origin, i understand now what it took for them to try anyway. no one is given the tools to truly thrive as Empaths in our society. [media] continues to sensationalise and capitalize off conflict & excitement, when our Ancestral Bodies have been needing such Deep Radical Rest for so long.

we’re all just hurting, we’re all just healing. we’re all just trying to be here and move through so much pain, next to all of our joy.

Our Planet is on the brink and we keep looking the other way. people covet other people having excess, while excess quickly kills us.

but do you ever pause near a window and witness dust mixing w/ morning sunlight? when was the last time you danced with a wall?

are yo u  F  R  e E ?

the first half of my life ended somewhere around the tailend of 2024. I was 37, I quit my last day job to create an Art Studio : kid˚MANDU

[M∆NDU | 만두] is the Korean word for ‘dumpling’ and now,
I make things that nourish my inner child.

peace love + light,

Nicky the Kiid˚

Genres

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Contact Information

Nicky Neon
shopkidmandu@gmail.com

Artist Links

Website

Artist Work

even though i'm struggling (2023)
a spontaneous piece reflecting the liminal space between endings + beginnings, between life + death, between wonder + horror. watercolor finished w/ ink + white gouache

we're all just (2024)
it's giving pastel tones + periwinkle vibes, sharp black lines + star doodles, it's got elder energy, and a bold red sun. It's giving DINOSAURS, it's giving RUNWAY, it's giving classic Nicky. pencil finished digitally w/ iPad Pro, Apple Pencil + Procreate

stay Gold (2024)
a vision sent to me by my Korean Ancestors, a 3rd Eye Dragon Spirit and her wellspring gives birth to new life throughout the forest on Lunar New Year. watercolor + gouache finished w/ ink + gouache

someone died this evening (2024)
i honor the dead. i honor the dead tree that gave life to this painting. i honor the first me who died last year in order to give birth to my Now. watercolor + gouache finished w/ ink + white jelly pens

pac was here (2024)
a spontaneous piece reflecting my heavy heart as the world continues to bomb each other, and a prophetic warning of the California wildfires that were to come. watercolor + gouache finished w/ ink + white jelly pens

white cat blue cactus (2024)
a spontaneous piece that predicted cats were entering my life, and the desert where i first found god. watercolor finished w/ ink + gouache