Nick Maltagliati

Acrylic on canvas
40 x 60 in.
$11,000
2024

I created this piece to commemorate the anniversary of a film; its themes reference wide swaths of imagery from art history related to female representation, the divine feminine, the concept of the Madonna, the concept of Venus/Aphrodite, along with the fact that commentary about the role and social perception and treatment of women are more important now than ever and need to be centered given our current political climate.

Watercolor on wood
5 x 7 in.
$165
2024

I work from my own photos and these are the ones I unearthed during spring cleaning!

Acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 x 0.6 in.
$2,200
2023

Yet another cityscape painting that I had in the art studio pile. It was only shown once in the two years since making it. I wanted to give it a second life to show another side of The Mission District, a quiet night, with the warm street lights glowing across the cars, buildings, and trees. Local media will often portray The Mission as this dangerous, drug ridden place, but this is false. The Mission is vibrant, colorful, lively, and relatively safe. As a Latinx artist, it also feels like home, and that is why this painting deserves a second life, because it presents an underrepresented perspective. It presents HOME.

Cyanotype on newsprint
20 x 16 in.
$500
2020

Pandemic Chronicle is a collection of botanical prints on newspaper clippings. They are images of local flora, along with some rocks and shells, collected and printed during the early part of the Covid-19 lockdown. The juxtaposition of the botanical print and the newspaper text captures the dissonance between the slow and hyper-local daily reality and the rabid news cycle of that time. The prints are fragile and beautiful, and they are not archival. Like our own memories, the prints will change and transform with time. The newspaper text comes through in a few words, like accidental poetry, and it refers to everything we experienced as a culture: the pandemic, of course, but also the wildfires, the murder of George Floyd, the election cycle, the insurrection, the loss of RBG, a hundred other headlines that have since faded into memory and the landscape.

We lived through all these events and they changed us in different ways. These prints are locked in time, and they are not archival-- they fade out the way our own memories fade out, as the newsprint degrades. In this way, they make a strong comment on the theme of an archive. What do we save from our most intense experiences? How are we imprinted and transformed in a moment of extended crisis, and afterwards? We should continue to ask these questions, because they are not locked into the moment of the Covid pandemic-- they are very much relevant to the events we are living through today.

Acrylic and Nail Polish. Frame found on clearance
10.5 x 8.5 in.
$100
2013

"Comfy Sweater" was originally created in 2013, during a pivotal and vulnerable moment in my life as I was beginning to come out as trans. It's a piece that's physically aged over time. The teal border has faded. The materials, foam and paper, have softened and worn—like how a beloved sweater stretches, fades, and molds to its wearer over the years. This natural wearing of the piece is part of its essence. It was never meant to stay pristine. It was meant to live. It was meant to breathe and change. Forgotten for a time, tucked away. Now feels like the perfect moment to bring it back into the light.

"Comfy Sweater" carries the story of a girl trying to hold herself together with whatever scraps she could find, overwhelmed by a world that rarely makes space for softness or survival.

For many of us, a sweater isn't just clothing. It's armor. It's permission to exist. It's the difference between being seen and being safe. The ache of being shaped by longing. The strength it takes to love yourself enough to try anyway.

When I look at "Comfy Sweater" now, even the hopes I wasn’t sure would survive are still stitched into me. Every shaky, stubborn act of faith that someday, somewhere, there might be a place for me to be real.

This piece doesn’t need to be fixed. It needs to be witnessed.

I’ve repainted the teal border—not to erase the years, but to honor the girl who painted it in the first place—the one who, against every odd, believed there could be a future where it was safe to wear her own name, her own body, like a second skin.

Now we must fight for that future.

Tape, paper
8.5 x 11 in.
$300
2019

Tape faces are portraits of Disabled folks I met on the train, on walks, at museums, and at the park. I used tape and notebook paper to depict our fleeting connection. I am disabled and these moments of co-recognition, a moment of eye contact, a pat on the arm, a small nod or wave, remind me that we are here, we are here, we are here. Now as we climb out of lockdown the choices we make decide who bodies are welcome and safe in those same public places, and who gets to see themselves reflected back by the community around them.

Oil on wood panel
20 x 12 x 2 in.
$2,600
2016

This is a painting that I made in 2016, it stood out/didn't quite go with- the body of work I made it for. It's been wrapped up, on ice, not being seen for years! It's show-mates sold long ago... I want to give it some attention! It's a sentimental memory of a fun stage of falling in love and the playfulness that was created in that moment. I've always loved it and I want to share it.

Acrylic paint, cotton, embroidery thread
6 inch hoop
$250

This was the start of a collaborative series where my brother would paint a scene, and I would embroider on top of it. This was the only one we completed because we live across the country from each other and are both at the whims of our ADHD. I wanted to share it because (a) I think it’s cool, and (b) maybe it’ll inspire us to bring the project back to life.

Collage, vellum, and acrylic on archival paper
14 x 11 x 2 in.
$400
2018

This piece just wants to say helloooooooooooo :)

Oil on linen
16 x 20 x .75 in.
$500
2020 - 2025

One of the ways I got through 2020 was by hiking. I started a body of work called ‘Into the Woods’ from my time in Appalachia, which a few commissions came from as well. Sometimes I’ll create several versions of one work, and this piece was abruptly put on hold when I moved to SF. My style has evolved since moving here and I was excited to build on the spatial discoveries created in the first Reverie painting.

Gouache/ink on reclaimed wood
28.5 x 25 in.
$800

“Alchemy” is part of a series of painting I did on wood ten years ago. The imagery comes straight from my subconscious through automatic drawing. To me, the image expresses having strength and hope in the face of diversity. The alchemy is turning adversity into beauty, and also that an kitchen cabinet door can become the substrate of a painting. In these times, it is my hope that someone else would benefit from these ideas and images and like to have it in their home for inspiration.

Recycled security envelopes on Arches paper, framed
16 x 20 in.
$300
2021

During Covid quarantine, I worked with old security envelopes which I had been collecting for over a decade. The series is a one-off but something that I’ve always longed to revisit. Flora 2 is the last piece I have from that series. It also happens to be my favorite. It is made from cast off pieces after cutting out shapes for other large projects. They were inadvertent “found” treasures like I those I find on beach or nature walks.

Embroidery on denim
21 x 12 in.
$200
2023

In 2022 I met a woman on the street in New Orleans. She was impeccably put together with a bedazzled denim jacket and a beautiful huge white parrot on her shoulder. And she, and her bird, only had one question for everyone.

I've been looking at it thinking it's incomplete for a few years now, but, you know what, I think it's done. And it's been done for a while.

Muslin, crochet thread
10.5 x 11.5 in.
$350
2019

“Void Study 02” is the second work I made in the development of my current, ongoing series, Void. Though this work has been in process for six years, I have only ever exhibited one of the works, in Bass & Reiner's Pyramid Scheme in 2023. The language of Void is specific and poetic, and this work is the beginning of it's articulation.

Handcut black paper
15 x 12 x 0.5 in.
$150
2015

This show inspired me to look through a box I hadn't opened in quite a while. Wrapped in brown paper in a box was this piece. I remember visiting Alcatraz and stepping out to the empty yard and seeing a shadow reaching towards me.

Oil on canvas
22 x 22 x 2 in.
$420
2017

Been gathering dust in my closet.

Tufting and wrapped yarn on canvas
13 x 12.5 x 1 in. each
$450
2022 - 2025

"Tiempos de Hoja", meaning "leaf seasons," captures my experience of arriving in San Francisco, observing nature’s cycles, and recognizing that I, too, was entering a new season of personal growth. Initially inspired by the vivid colors surrounding me, the tufted fibers were a reflection of a moment filled with hope and potential—my own time to bloom.

Returning to this artwork after time had passed, I introduced wrapped yarn layers that intertwine organically, symbolizing the unseen threads of connection and grounding I've cultivated here. Each layer acknowledges nature's gentle influence in helping me embrace change, adapt, and flourish in this new environment.

Why does this piece fit the theme of "From The Archives"?
This piece was started years ago, left incomplete, and stored away. Reviving it felt meaningful and aligned with the exhibition's theme of revisiting and reimagining past projects.

What about this piece motivated you to give it a second life?
Seeing "Tiempos de Hoja" again reminded me of the feelings I had when I first arrived here. It inspired me to reconnect creatively, adding new layers that symbolize the deeper bonds and gratitude I've developed since then.

Color pencil on paper
16 × 13 x 1.25 in.
$600
2023

This piece was inspired by a photo taken in 2020, started in 2021, and finished in 2023. It currently lives in my kitchen. Since it's a personal favorite, and was really nicely framed by Orion framing, I've been waiting for the right moment to get it out into the world. Now here you are. It's also about things falling apart to make room for new life; I sure hope that's what's happening in the world right now.

Postcards, mod podge, oil paint on wood panel
12 x 9 in.
$350
2020-2025

Growing up, I collected postcards from all the art shows I went to. Years later I found the postcards were mostly of white, European men. So I had a meditative moment of destruction as creation but cutting up the postcards and weaving them. The weaving is buried under layers of mod podge to give it a perserved in amber look.

Oil and collaged archival receipts on canvas, mounted on wood panel
12 x 12 in.
$500
2020-2025

Back in 2020, The Drawing Room coordinated a self portrait mural for the Women Rising exhibition. I was lucky enough to get a canvas panel to do my own portrait on my own time and FINALLY five years later I finished the piece. I am excited to debut this self portrait, a subject matter and style that I am not usually known for.

I worked from a photo taken by my partner Joey jokingly flipping me off as I clumsily got stuck in a vintage jersey.

Oil on canvas
20 x 16 x 1 in.
$500
2020

This piece is part of a series made during the Covid lockdown of 2020. I deem it as "From the Archives" because the process for making it - painting from a small relief sculpture/shadow-box, created from paper scraps/tape/etc - I have since abandoned. My current work however does retain many elements of the visual language in this painting - and the process of constructing, lighting, and painting the sculpture using the language of observational painting was a process that I had not allowed myself to do up to that point.

I was motivated to give this painting a second life because it is representative of a period of time where the studio was a place of isolation. Each small sculpture, and then finally a finished painting, felt like its own separate world where visual language was invented, developed, combined, and transformed into new ways of seeing for me. I see these paintings as the precursor for the work I do currently.

Acrylic, ink, graphite on wood panel
16 x 12 in.
$400

I painted this in the latter end of lockdown when I was just learning how to paint skin. I liked where I was at the time but also get a little embarrassed by how young of a painter I was. I’ve gotten a little better and a lot more jaded since but this piece reminds me that I can level up by surprise in my painting ability at any time and mostly by accident.

Acrylic on cardboard
11 x 15 in.
$430
2019

This artwork, created in 2019, marked my first nocturnal painting—and the internal decision to pursue more night scenes, leading to the series of nighttime works I’m now known for in smaller local art circles.
I gave it a lil 2025 energy.

Typewriter ink and thread on Italian crepe paper
26.75 x 19 x .25 in.
$800
2023-2025

I was never quite satisfied with this piece I created in early 2023. While cleaning out my studio, I saw it in a pile of papers and decided to revisit it. Finally, two years later, it feels complete.

Watercolor on paper
14.5 in x 12 in.
$250
2020

This is a piece from 2020, as part of my processing the ongoing Pandemic caused by COVID-19 - an event affecting and impacting lives so severely. Of course I needed to turn to art as my biggest fears were coming true in real time. I have always been scared of apocalyptic events like a zombie invasion—but never imagined having to experience something so devastating to humans in my lifetime. It is causing death, disability, fear, dividing communities, financial crisis after getting sick, and so much more.
I want to bring this piece back as a play on "zombie coming back to life" but to also nod at the use of comedy and art as a coping mechanism. A way to try to comprehend and accept what was and is still happening to us.
COVID-19 still runs rampant TODAY and is still affecting millions—especially those in marginalized communities. My hope is that folks stay educated about what is still going on around us and that we can continue to try to protect one another.

Plastic, paint, glitter & resin on canvas
31 x 25 x 2 in.
$775
2020

Created 5 years ago, this work was a 'personal' piece; a love letter to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a band with I've grown. Pulling various albums of theirs for inspiration, and repurposing a unique stencil c.2006; a yellow triangle with different 10 colored lines extending foreshadows forthcoming triangle art.

Wood, steel wire, paint
7 x 10 x 1.5
$250
2020

It was created during lockdown, shown during COVID restrictions and then put aside. I just like this piece and the spirit, I hope, it reflects.

Acrylic
16 × 12 in.
$200
2018

From an early attempt at teaching myself how to paint the incarnations in my mind, came this painting that I have always kept around to hang on my own wall as a kind of document of my own journey with art.

Acrylic
20 x 16 x .75 in.
$350
2020

This painting has long served as an inspiration for many other paintings over the past couple years and is in itself a kind of archival of a plethora of different creative explorations that were later applied to different works.

Woodblock print on hanji paper
16 x 14 in.
$385
2022

This print is one of the first woodblock prints I ever made and I haven’t shown it very much outside of my studio because I always thought it was messy or paled in comparison to some of my other prints once I became more comfortable with the medium. In light of this show, I want to embrace the imperfections of this piece and appreciate the marks of learning a new skill that it shows. There are definitely aspects that I don’t necessarily like about the print but learning a new medium is a brave endeavor and I’m grateful that I have prints like this to mark the beginning of this journey.