It’s not every day an artist has their work seen by billions of people, but that’s exactly what happened to Nicholas Huggins on July 22, 2022. On that day, his Google doodle celebrating the steelpan, a collaboration with motion designer Mick Seegobin and musicians Etienne Charles and Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe, appeared on the homepage of the online search engine’s website. When the Trinidadian illustrator, painter and graphic designer, who lives in Port of Spain, was first approached to do the doodle, he was nervous given the steelpan’s cultural significance. “I wanted the story being told to be one that Trinbagonians worldwide would be proud of,” he said in an interview on the platform’s site. “I was also very excited because I love creating art that showcases Trinidad and Tobago.” Huggins certainly did the steelpan no harm. About 12 months after the doodle appeared, the UN General Assembly designated August 11 World Steelpan Day, to be observed annually, the year after that the Trinidad and Tobago parliament passed legislation enshrining the steelpan as the national instrument (in 1992 it had been so declared, but a bill was not formally enacted), and a year after that the instrument was put on the country’s coat of arms. Since the doodle, Huggins, who leads Backyard Design Co. and who is responsible for a host of larger artistic installations across the island, has gone on to have two exhibitions at the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago, 2023’s Up to Now and 2024’s Field Trip. and in 2025 opened his own gallery and studio space in Mucurapo, Trinidad. We interviewed him recently via email about his new space.

 

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MOKO: There is something audacious about your move to open a gallery and studio space. A huge component of being a creative today is having an online presence; this has been a key part of your creative practice ranging from your 2022 Google steelpan doodle to your consistent social media engagement. What are your aims with this new, very intimate space? Can we read into it a statement about the importance of these kinds of physical, as opposed to purely digital, forums?

NICHOLAS HUGGINS: I have always liked the saying “think global, act local.” You’re very right in saying that an important part of being a creative is having that online presence and to some degree feeding the algorithm. There are a lot of benefits to being consistent online, one of which is the global connectivity and the opportunities that that brings with it. This has allowed me to work with some of the biggest brands regionally as well as internationally. I had my first solo exhibition in 2023 and then a second in 2024, and through those experiences I realised the importance of in-person conversations about the work. I had the idea for the space last year, but wanted to make sure that it would be a feasible venture before committing to it. The studio space is my version of “act locally” in that it allows people to come in, chat with me, see the work, and engage with the entire process in a way that a website or Instagram would not allow. It has given me the chance to speak, in person, with designers who are starting off their careers as well as students who are considering careers in the creative industry, in a way that isn’t really as organic when done online. The gallery also enables me to monetize the space as I can now sell my artwork in person, something that also does not have the same impact when done online. Most of my work is natively digital, done on the iPad, but it is intended to be seen at full size, printed, framed and hung up — not on your screen. This space allows my collectors to see the work as intended and at scale.

MOKO: In the Mucurapo Road space there is a balance suggested by the layout: this is a “gallery/studio”. The normally low-profile, quieter moment of creation (the workspace to the left upon entry) is placed alongside an almost immediate sense of public engagement (the exhibition/ wall space to the right); as if you are inviting us into your process. What are some of the advantages of this kind of almost interactive setup?

NH: I am a big believer in things being multi-use. To that end, I knew that when I launched my own space, it should be a place where I can work, exhibit, host small events, etc. I think for the person coming into the space, it also allows them to get a small glimpse into my process and to see work as it unfolds. I had my first two solo exhibitions over the last two years, Up to Now in 2023 and Field Trip in 2024, and what I realised through these exhibitions was that my audience goes beyond your normal art collector. I got a lot of first-time buyers that came to the exhibitions, and a lot of people mentioned that they had never even been to an art gallery or exhibition before. A core part of how I engage my art with the public online is through showing the process and my experimentation. So, the space is a physical interpretation of how I work and how I engage with the public. I have a studio at home, but I also have this other space where I can work on projects while having people pass through and be able to experience some of the works in progress. I am also constantly changing out pieces in the gallery depending on what I am working on at the moment; the entire space is almost like a piece of performance art where you can get a sense of what I, as an artist, am interested in and working on.

MOKO: What have been the biggest challenges in opening a gallery in Trinidad and Tobago?

NH: To be honest, I am a meticulous planner. So, before I started the process, I had a sense of exactly what I wanted to do, and it was just a matter of executing. There were no major challenges that I encountered. I worked with a great team to set up the actual space as we had some renovation work to do before it was fit for purpose, and because of the team it went really smoothly. I also found a studio assistant who basically handles the day-to-day operations of the gallery when I am not there. Knock wood, it has been really smooth sailing since I started out. My main goal right now is to keep coming up with ideas to keep the space fresh and for people to be able to come back over and over and have it be an enjoyable experience every time.

MOKO: Like being in a gallery, experiencing art in a physical space is also a part of your large-scale murals at C3 Centre in San Fernando and East Gates Mall, Trincity. What are some of the differences, for you, in moving between these larger, public works and your smaller, intimate pieces?

NH: The larger pieces will always be different because those are all initiated by clients who normally have a vision for their space. While I am allowed a certain degree of creative freedom, I am still working with the confines of a client brief while executing these large-scale pieces. The work in the gallery is a lot more personal as they are all self-initiated and are true, unfiltered expressions of my creativity without a lot of external thoughts and ideas. This allows for more experimentation in the work, without feeling like I have a client or anyone else to please.

MOKO: You also run a design agency. Are there similar dynamics when it comes to the objects you might create branding for in your agency practice? Key differences? What are some of the synergies between all these elements of your work as a creative?

NH: My design practice with my design agency Backyard Design Co. follows a completely different practice to my art. Within design, considerations must be made for the creative brief, target market, current trends, etc. It is a completely different muscle to creating art. What I do find is that through my experimentation in my personal pieces, I get a lot of ideas that I can then bring across to my agency work. With my design agency, I have a team that I work with which presents a different set of dynamics and skill set as far as management of the agency, creative direction, client relations, etc. whereas within my art practice and gallery it is really just me making the decisions.

 

MOKO: Sketching is important to your process, and you clearly venerate painting, wax pastels, charcoal and Lino-block prints. Do you think there is a need, given the rise of things like AI, to hold close to the very physical/tactile textures involved in these modes of creation?

NH: I think that the AI conversation is super interesting. I see that it can be a really useful tool in the process of making, however I do not see it replacing art. I compare it to people who buy framed art prints at Walmart to hang in their house as decoration versus buying art from an artist that you love and whose career you have been following, where you buy into their process and the story that they are telling through their art. There is a place for both of these things, and AI will find its place as well. I enjoy sharing my process because I think that people enjoy seeing it and it adds to the narrative of each piece. I love when other artists share their process, so I do the same. I definitely see the gallery space as just a physical interpretation of what I do online, and it presents a different way for people to engage with the art.