Alcina Nolley

Alcina Nolley was born in New York, USA in 1940.  From 1983 after her father retired to St. Lucia, the birthplace of his parents, she started visiting frequently, only to make the island her home from 1992.  Nolley received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1964 from the State University of New York at Buffalo and also studied at the Henry Ford Community College in Michigan. 

Nolley works with oils, metal, glass, paper and digital processes, always trying to capture that fleeting moment.  When painting she uses a limited pallet.  The three primary’s plus white which gives a unity and harmony to her work.  She specifically looks for the light in her subjects.  Along with light comes shadow and ultimately form.  Nolley describes her style as realistic but introspective.  That’s because the meaning of her pieces is always deeper than what is on the surface.  Her images though are inspired by St. Lucia.  They depict the islands’ vegetation and its people – particularly women.  St. Lucia has given her a different perspective in how she sees things.  She says that there are more colours here, colours that are also brighter and more vivid. 

Nolley has exhibited in the Caribbean, America, Japan and Germany.  To Nolley, “art leads to a more beautiful life”.  She continues by saying that “everything that is great about life is done by the creativity within people.  It’s the little things that one does differently to their routine, the bright idea one gets, that extra dash of pepper sauce added to the cooking, that changes ones existence into a more interesting and worthwhile day”.