This woman draws inspiration from the most unlikely place.

When you think of inspirational places, you probably don’t think of the bathroom. But after seeing these works of art, you may very well change your mind.

Welcome to Mamamia’s art endeavour, the Voulez-Vous Project. Every week we celebrate emerging artists, designers, illustrators, creators and women who knit using their vaginas. (Kidding. Maybe.)

Our aim: to help the internet become a slightly more beautiful, captivating, or thought-provoking place by making art accessible.

To find out more about the Voulez-Vous project, click here. Click here to see all the previous Voulez-Vous posts.

— —

If Nikky Morgan-Smith was on a mission to prove that the bathroom is the most inspiring room in the house, then she’s definitely winning.

The Byron-based artist has used this unlikely room, which she says depicts a desire to create sanctuary of the self, as inspiration for her ongoing body of work, Displaced Inhabitants. 

“The bathroom and bath are motifs for this idea and its inhabitants are representations of self,” Nikky told Mamamia.

A single mum who grew up around Byron, Nikky attributes much of her painting skill to her parents. “Painting has always been part of my life as both of my parents are practicing contemporary artists.

“I guess I started to learn how to paint from watching them in the studio and art just being around and part of what we do.”

Read more: Voulez Vous: Art you carry in your pocket.

It’s this love of painting that led Nikky to study visual arts at Southern Cross University and RMIT, studies that took her to Melbourne for almost a decade before returning to her hometown of Byron Bay.

Flick through to see some more of Nikky’s works… (post continues down page) 

The vibrant artist describes her studio and place of work as “extremely messy, verging on a health hazard”. But, despite this, it’s also her “favourite place to be in the world”.

Nikky also said in a recent interview that struggling with work/life balance as a single mother has had a dramatic impact on her work and style.

“I am constantly being pulled out of my ‘zone’ and have to find ways of being able to work intensely for short periods of time with regular interruptions.”

Nevertheless Nikky has no plans to slow down anytime soon. “I get up because I have to, I get up because I want to, I get up because I have to see if what I did in the studio the day before is a disaster or brilliant.”

Want to see more of Nikky’s work? Check out her website or connect with her via Facebook.

Do you know an artist (or are YOU an artist) who creates beautiful or thought-provoking work and whom you think should be featured on Mamamia’s Voulez-Vous Project? Send an email to caitlin.stower@mamamia.com.au.