Nicole Nikolich, Lace in the Moon: user_history
a solo exhibition
March 6 – March 29, 2026

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, March 6 • 6PM-8PM

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present user_history, a solo exhibition of new work by fiber artist Nicole Nikolich, also known as Lace in the Moon. In her debut solo exhibition, Nikolich pays tribute to early internet nostalgia with over 30 hand-crocheted flip phones, Gameboy® consoles, and computer application icons of the early 2000’s. Nikolich hand-crafts thousands of pixel-like stitches to take an object that usually fits in the palm of your hand and amplify it to be larger than life, matching the emotional space that these objects take up in the millennial collective memory. As she carefully recreates these objects, she reflects on the memories, like texting on a T9 keypad, drawing with bitmap software programs, and making friends in online chatrooms. In her largest body of work to date, Nikolich reminds us of the varied methods of human connection as she combines traditional craft and the digital world. Nicole Nikolich: user_history will be on view at Paradigm Gallery + Studio (12 N. 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106) from March 6  through March 29, 2026, with a public opening reception on Friday, March 6, during Old City’s First Fridays.

Although early internet motifs have appeared before in Nikolich’s work, for this exhibition, she is personally rendering these familiar objects through her own personal lens. This particular collection was inspired by the act of stumbling across an old phone or old gaming system and immediately being flooded with childhood memories. What can be considered as just vintage electronics is now a sentimental totem for how technology has shaped our social lives. Working like an anthropologist, Nikolich identifies the early 2000’s era as a vital channel for escape from everyday life. She was able to connect with strangers from around the world and to learn how to create with early software like KidPix and Microsoft Paint. Although modern programs and screens have evolved past 8-bit renderings, it's those same early concepts that Nikolich is still using in her work. Before touching any yarn, she engages in deep exploration and preparatory sketches to create a flip phone or handheld console authentic to the one she had as a teenager. Her process involves gathering reference images, digitally manipulating them into crochet patterns, customizing and mapping out every single color until it becomes a hyperrealistic copy. This dedication allows her to preserve the magic of late-night online chats, hours glued to a gaming console screen, or carrying clunky gadgets in your pocket.

At the heart of the exhibition, Nikolich recognizes how she used these objects as a link between her social life and her creativity, which has led to her prolific career as a working artist. By using a historically significant and approachable medium such as crochet, she can add a tactile element to make the pieces feel real and not just pixels on a screen. Nikolich had curated these objects just as one would curate a MySpace page to remind us of the different ways we can connect. Although technology is rapidly changing, Nikolich firmly believes in preserving these devices and motifs, especially as they can be catalysts for sharing memories and safe havens for those needing to escape.

*Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com to request to be added to Nicole Nikolich, Lace in the Moon's digital collector preview list for all of her upcoming projects and exhibitions you may also submit your request HERE.*

About Nicole Nikolich, Lace in the Moon
Nicole Nikolich, also known as Lace In The Moon, is a Philadelphia-based crochet installation and street artist. She received her BFA in Fashion Merchandising from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a self-taught fiber artist whose practice emerged through involvement in the Philadelphia street art community, later expanding into larger-scale and permanent pieces and installations.

Working at the intersection of craft, public art, and contemporary culture, Nicole transforms crochet into immersive, site-specific installations. Nicole’s notable clients include Microsoft, Netflix, Target, and Michael’s, and she has created installations for institutions such as The Delaware Contemporary Museum, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Philadelphia International Airport, among others.

Nicole’s current work examines early digital culture through the lens of fiber art, using crochet to reinterpret Y2K-era technology, internet imagery, and obsolete devices as contemporary artifacts. By recreating the visual language of the early internet in handmade form, she taps into shared childhood and adolescent memories, using nostalgia as a tool for emotional reconnection and inner child healing. Her work invites viewers to revisit formative digital experiences with curiosity, comfort, and a renewed sense of play.

About Paradigm Gallery + Studio
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intensive contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world, with a focus on Philadelphia. In 2023, Paradigm moved locations and opened its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.

EXHIBITION HOURS
Thursdays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Fridays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Saturdays • 11 AM – 6 PM
Sundays • 11 AM – 5 PM
Mon-Wed by appointment.

MEDIA CONTACT
For all inquiries, contact info@paradigm-gallery.com

LOCATION
12 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @ParadigmGS

*Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com to request to be added to Nicole Nikolich, Lace in the Moon's digital collector preview list for all of her upcoming projects and exhibitions you may also submit your request HERE.*