“My artwork exists to illuminate our soul’s experience in human form: the duality of love and heartbreak, our connection with nature, sacred symbols and the unified field of consciousness.”
Nicole PalapoliThe artist
Nicole Palapoli
Decades of painting, tattooing and teaching.
As it moves through me and onto its surface, my artwork has given my life a purpose beyond my own healing. My wish is to evoke reflective conversation, deep connections, and emotional and spiritual healing in the hearts of my viewers as we co-create a more conscious existence.
I graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2002, earned my teaching certification in Art Education at Queens College, and studied abroad at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy, and the Universidad de Nebrija in Madrid, Spain. After becoming a high-school art teacher for the Board of Education I felt completely restricted and needed a full-time outlet for my creativity. I was introduced to tattooing, quickly reinvented my life, and never looked back.
My tattoo style is fluid, but as it evolves I gravitate toward color portraits, pinup girls and nature-themed pieces rather than rigid geometrics. In 2012 I opened my first shop, Body Language Tattoo, in Astoria, Queens. After seven successful years I decided to close the doors in exchange for the flexibility to pursue my personal artwork. Innerspace Gallery is what that became.
The path so far
Decades in order
| Early Years | Newsday art contests, early-childhood classes at Hofstra University, and two college scholarships awarded for artistic talent. |
| School of Visual Arts, NYC 1998 | Drawing, film-making, fine arts, anatomy, animation, art history and graphic design. An internship at MTV Studios, and an animated short screened at the Beacon Theater. |
| Florence, Italy 2000 | Studied under Italian painters at the Accademia di Belle Arti, and painted the city on canvas between the churches and museums. |
| 2002 | Graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in Animation. |
| After SVA | Art Director and teacher at an art school in Queens — hanging shows, teaching, hiring, registrations. Then faux finishing: wood grain, marble, gold leaf, plaster, and the first custom murals. |
| Queens College 2005 / Madrid, Spain 2005 | Studied Art Education, photography, printmaking, sculpture. Certified by New York State Board of Education to teach art, K through 12. Studied abroad Spanish Art History at the Universidad de Nebrija in Madrid. |
| Teaching 2005 / Tattooing 2007 | Taught high school art, found it restricting, and left within the year. Licensed by the NYC Board of Health and began a tattoo apprenticeship. |
| 2012 | Opened Body Language Tattoo in Astoria, Queens. |
| 2019 | Closed BLT after seven years, by choice, in exchange for the flexibility to paint. |
| Now | Innerspace Gallery: painting, tattooing and teaching, all by appointment. |
For writers, galleries and stockists
Press & booking
Short bio, long bio, and high-resolution artwork files are available for press, galleries and stockists on request.
Questions: hello@innerspacegallery.com
In the press
Press to date
The studio letter
One letter a month
New paintings as they finish, early access to editions, and first notice when the oracle deck and the coloring books open. You can sign up here.
Exhibitions & Events · tap a star
Fifteen years of shows, mapped like a sky. Distance from center is time. Click any star — or the center, just to watch.
Ring 1: 2011–15 · Ring 2: 2016–19 · Ring 3: 2020–24 · Ring 4: 2025–26
Names and places. The Show list section below the photo gallery holds every star on the map, one show per line, written as: Show name | Place | Year | Type. Type is Gallery, Show, Art Show, Acting or Speaker; Festival, Concert or Art Week; or Convention. Click into the list and edit it like any text: change a name or a place, add a line for a new show, or delete a line to remove that star. Keep the | marks between the parts, then save the page.
Photos. Click the Show Photos gallery below, choose Edit Gallery, and drag your photos in. To put a photo on a star, give it the show's name: either name the file before you upload it (for example haven-gallery-into-the-woods.jpg), or click the photo, open its settings and type the show name as the title. Add the year when a show happened more than once. Visitors never see this note, the gallery or the list.
Show list (only you see this)
One show per line: Show name | Place | Year | Type. Type is Gallery, Festival or Convention.
The Wicked Monk Art Show | Brooklyn | 2011 | Gallery
Body Language Tattoo Art Show | Queens | 2013 | Gallery
Astoria Art Festival | Queens | 2014 | Festival
“Bestiary” Art Show | Brooklyn | 2014 | Gallery
“Green Man” Art Show | Brooklyn | 2015 | Gallery
Last Rites Gallery — “Flesh to Canvas” | NYC | 2015 | Gallery
Haven Gallery — “Into the Woods” | Long Island | 2015 | Gallery
“Nightfall” Art Show | Brooklyn | 2015 | Gallery
The Fridge Gallery — “Kids” Fundraiser | Washington DC | 2015 | Gallery
“Neo-Relic” Solo Show | Brooklyn | 2016 | Gallery
COSM Full Moon Gathering | Upstate NY | 2016 | Show
Symbiosis Gathering — Live Painting | California | 2016 | Festival
Luna Light Festival | Maryland | 2016 | Festival
The Nova Sanctuary — Live Painting | Long Island | 2016 | Show
Haven Gallery — “Little Big 2” | Long Island | 2016 | Gallery
Gem & Jam — Tribe 13 Gallery | Arizona | 2017 | Festival
Envision Festival — Live Painting | Costa Rica | 2017 | Festival
COSM Vernal Equinox — Live Painting | Upstate NY | 2017 | Show
Tipper and Friends — Live Painting | Florida | 2017 | Festival
The City Gallery — “Recherche” | California | 2017 | Gallery
Gratitude Migration Festival | Jersey Shore | 2017 | Festival
COSM Full Moon Gathering | Upstate NY | 2017 | Show
Unifier Roots Gathering — Live Painting | Massachusetts | 2017 | Festival
Body Language Tattoo Art Show | Queens | 2017 | Gallery
“Orange Is The New Black” Series Appearance | NYC | 2017 | Acting
Monika’s Café Bar — Body Painting | Queens | 2017 | Show
“Between the Worlds” Art Show | Brooklyn | 2017 | Gallery
Monika’s Café Bar — Live Painting | Queens | 2017 | Show
“The Paper Box” Pop up | Brooklyn | 2017 | Show
“An Unfamous Art Show” | Brooklyn | 2017 | Gallery
COSM Vernal Equinox — Live Painting | Upstate NY | 2018 | Festival
“Love is Love” — LGBTQ Pride Live Painting | Queens | 2018 | Festival
Nova Sanctuary — “FunGuy Statue” Art Show | Long Island | 2018 | Gallery
“Open Mic Renegades” — Poetry / Body Painting | Queens | 2018 | Art Show
“Open Mic Renegades” — Poetry / Body Painting | Queens | 2019 | Art Show
“Erotic Masquerade” Poetry / Body Painting | Brooklyn | 2019 | Art Show
“Femmotions” — Unfamous Art | Brooklyn | 2019 | Gallery
COSM Full Moon Gathering | Upstate NY | 2019 | Show
Threyda Gallery — “Mile High Magic” | Colorado | 2019 | Gallery
Metropolitan Museum of Art Grand Re-Opening — Live Painting | NYC | 2020 | Show
Threyda Gallery — Collaboration Show | Colorado | 2022 | Gallery
Times Square Human Connection Arts — Body Painting | NYC | 2022 | Show
“Pride Month” — Body Painting | NYC | 2022 | Festival
Cosmic Wizard Tattoo — Body Painting | Brooklyn | 2022 | Show
“Women’s Empowerment” at the Vegoist — Body Painting | Queens | 2022 | Show
Hulaween Tribe 13 Gallery — Mural | Florida | 2022 | Festival
Art Basel “Few and Far Women” — Mural | Florida | 2022 | Art Week
“Dead and Company” — Body Painting | Upstate NY | 2022 | Concert
“Bicycle Day” — The Midway | San Francisco | 2023 | Gallery
Culture Lab — Concert Body Painting | Queens | 2023 | Gallery
COSM Entheon Museum Grand Opening — Live Painting | Upstate NY | 2023 | Show
Union Square Human Connection Arts — Body Painting | NYC | 2023 | Show
Culture Lab — Art Opening Body Painting | NYC | 2023 | Gallery
Art Basel “Few and Far Women” — Mural | Miami | 2023 | Art Week
“Cannadelic” Miami Convention Center | Miami | 2023 | Convention
“Art With Me” Moksha Gallery | Miami | 2023 | Gallery
Fireflies Forest Festival | Miami | 2023 | Festival
Art Walk SOHO Unfamous Gallery — Live Painting | NYC | 2023 | Show
“Visionary Art” Psychedelic Assembly Grand Opening | NYC | 2024 | Gallery
“McKenna Fundraiser” Psychedelic Assembly | NYC | 2024 | Gallery
Union Square Human Connection Arts — Body Painting | NYC | 2024 | Show
Psychedelic Assembly Artist Panel Discussion — Speaker | NYC | 2024 | Gallery
Long Island City Open Studios | Queens | 2024 | Gallery
Casa Cinco Rooftop Opening — Live Painting | Brooklyn | 2024 | Show
Chris Dyer Book Signing Psychedelic Assembly — Live Painting | NYC | 2024 | Gallery
Gem & Jam Tribe 13 Gallery | Arizona | 2024 | Festival
Psychedelic Science Convention Gallery | Colorado | 2024 | Convention
“Mystic Collapse” — Private Gallery & Artist Panel | NYC | 2025 | Gallery
“Bicycle Day” — The Midway | San Francisco | 2025 | Festival
Tipper and Friends — Gallery | Florida | 2025 | Festival
StableCon Gallery Auction | Washington DC | 2026 | Convention