Portraitures of Boyhood is a year-long series of oil paintings that grew out of sustained attention to childhood as a fluid, expressive stage of becoming, traced through portraits of boys mostly between the ages of two and twelve.

The work did not begin as a series about boys specifically; the original intention was simply to paint children. By chance, the first four paintings were of boys, and the quiet momentum of that coincidence carried the project forward. As the series continued, the focus gradually narrowed—not through initial intention, but through a curiosity that deepened with each painting.

What emerged was not a study of individual identity, but of boyhood as an idea—a shifting emotional and visual landscape shaped by color, scale, gesture, and mood. Over the course of the year, the work evolved: brushwork loosened, palettes evolved, and the paintings moved further away from representation and closer to expression. Exploring boyhood through color—unexpected hues, exaggerated contrasts, and painterly intuition—became one of the most rewarding aspects of the process.

This series, Portraitures of Boyhood, is not about narrative or biography. Instead, it is about presence, energy, and the in-between moments of growing up—a time before performance hardens, before self-consciousness fully sets in. Seen together, the paintings reflect not only the development of the subjects, but the development of the artist’s own language over time.

Nicole Montoney:

When I was younger, I didn’t go to art school. Part of that came from a lack of confidence—uncertainty about whether I was “good enough,” or worthy of taking up space in that world. 

 Between doubt and fear - art became something I practiced quietly and privately, on the margins of a more “responsible” life.

 Years passed. A successful career in business took shape here in Columbus. Responsibilities accumulated.

Art remained—patient, persistent—returning again and again with the same question.

What’s stopping me from doing exactly what I want in life?

 This show is one way of answering that question.Not by proving anything or correcting the past, but by making room in the present. By trusting that showing up—openly, without certainty—is reason enough to be here, and inviting others to meet the work where it is.