Lelani Nicolaisen is a South African artist and curator. Her practice spans painting, sculpture and installation art, mostly comprised of canvas, paint, thread and found objects. Space has become a fundamental part of her work in both her paintings and installations. Nicolaisen explores notions of the everyday human connection with the spaces they are immersed within. Her paintings capture the often overlooked in-between moments in life - the forgotten moments or spaces that aren’t seen as worthy of remembering. When looking from a distance, these moments become precious as one could never return to that exact moment in time. Nicolaisen photographs scenes from her everyday surroundings of people and spaces that are known or unfamiliar to her. These photographs are later revisited to be translated into cherished paintings. By excluding urban elements, she elevates the natural environment within her work. Her work confronts ideas of loss, trauma and renewal.

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Nicolaisen has a degree in Fine Arts and a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Pretoria. She participated in the International Curatorial Program as well as the Inclusive Curatorial Practices: Accessibility, Representation and Diversity Program, both at Node Centre for Curatorial Studies. Nicolaisen has lectured as a guest lecturer in Fine Arts at the School of Arts of the University of Pretoria from 2015 to 2023. She has artworks in the University of Pretoria’s public collection and in the Art Bank of South Africa. In 2012 Nicolaisen represented the University of Pretoria by exhibiting at World Event Young Artists in Nottingham, England. Nicolaisen has participated in many group exhibitions in South Africa, including at Nirox Sculpture Park, The Association of Arts Pretoria, Art.B and the Pretoria Art Museum.