Paul Nickson Atia (b.1992, Sarawak; lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is a young artist from Malaysia. His main interest lies in exploring narratives and conceptual frameworks of architecture, art, culture, and subjects of identity along with social and historical contexts. The themes of spirituality, time, modularity, memory, and desire are central to his practice in constructing and claiming meanings. The grid paintings from his series Obsession (Form(s) of Prayer(s), 2019) characterized by myriads of painted squares and mark- making set the fundamental representation of his visions and visuals throughout his works such as paintings, installations, photography and collages.
Paul has participated in exhibitions in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. His solo exhibitions include Jari Berlari, Galeri RumahLukis, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2018), Form(s) of Prayer(s), Rissim Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2019), and Counting Silence, Filling Space, Weaving Conversation, Rissim Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2022). He presented a new series Torun TanaŹ - There Is Something About Home in ART SG 2024 under the representation of Rissim Contemporary.
He completed the three-month-long Southeast Asian Arts Residency at Rimbun Dahan, Malaysia in 2022, and was one of the twelve Southeast Asian artists selected for the inaugural Maybank Foundation Artist Fellowship Programme in 2023. He is the current recipient for the Khazanah Nasional Associate Artist Residency Programme 2024 at ACME Studios in London.