Nick Torok grew up in a small town in the Niagara Area of Ontario. At the age of 19 Nick sought his independence by moving to Toronto to enroll in the Ontario College of Art. In 2005 Nick received his BFA in Integrated Media from OCAD-U. He has worked for and interned at various artist run centers and collectives such as Mercer Union, YYZ Gallery, Vtape, Trinity Square Video, Charles St Video, and 7A*11D. Nick has used his entrepreneurial and multi-media talents by working in the professional film industry as a second camera assistant and technician since 1998. Nick has been a practicing multi-disciplinary artist for the past fifteen years with a consistent exhibition record. Recently he participated in two artist residencies, Don Blanche in Shelbourne Ontario and Su-en Butoh in Sweden.
Presently Nick’s work is a self-exploration of the mind-body connection in relation to emotional stress that presents itself in the form of physical manifestations. His recent work investigates gender identity and the gender binary on a personal level and on a social level. His artwork takes the form of life-sized drawings that examine the internal workings of his body, paintings that detail these internal excavations and performances that physically display internal processes. Nick’s 2D work is a process through which Nick arrives at his performance material.