NICHOLAS HOLODEK was born in Hrysheno (now known as Krasnoarmiisk), province (oblast) of Donetsk, Ukraine on July 27th, 1924.

He demonstrated a natural ability to sculpt and draw at a very early age -- his uncle, a portraitist was his first teacher.

Nicholas joined the Taras Shevchenko professional Theatre in his home town at the age of 14, as a stage designer. He rapidly fell in love with the theatre and joined the troupe as an actor and singer.

During the German invasion of the Ukraine, the theatre was surrounded and all the actors and their families were expatriated by train to Austria.

Once allowed to leave the Östarbeiterlager (Eastern Workers' Forced Labor Camp) were he was being held, and let loose in post-war Western Europe, Nicholas was able to intensify his artistic training.

Nicholas was able to study and train with masters of modern sculpture such as Stanko and Buldin. He also enrolled in the prestigious Mozarteum Music School in Vienna to perfect his natural baritone.

In 1949, Nicholas was picked up by the IRO (International Refugees' Organization) and was supplied sea tickets to Buenos Aires, Argentina where he arrived with his parents.

Together with his father, Nicholas built the home where he and his parents lived. (The house stands to this day in the town of Berisso, approximately 1 hour's train ride from the Capital.)

In Buenos Aires, Nicholas continued his vocal training with the famed tenor Pedro Mirassou and with Maestro Mario Carlos Troisi, then régisseur of the prestigious Teatro Colón. Nicholas became an assiduous guest artist with the Teatro Argentino in the city of La Plata, and performed several lead baritone roles in La Traviata, RIgoletto, La Dame de Pique in that city and in Buenos Aires.

Concurrently, Nicholas' plastic arts career was booming: between 1949 and 1970 he was commissioned and completed over 200 murals, monuments and large-scale and decorative works in the city of Buenos Aires. His work was often cited and visited as an example of modern art by professors in universities.

In 1966, Nicholas met his wife, ballet dancer, stage and television actress Selva Lilian Lesbegueris -- (they both had the same vocal coach). They were married that same year.

In 1970, Nicholas emigrated to the United States in order to further his artistic career. He began a series of collaborations with a compatriot, renowned iconographer Svyatoslav Hordynskyj, with whom Nicholas traveled in the U.S. and Europe, perfecting his knowledge of Iconography.

Between 1970 and 1990, Nicholas decorated over 30 churches around the world, assisted primarily by his wife, Selva. He also continued work on his modern sculpture and large-scale murals, which are his personal passion.

Today, in the 21st century, Nicholas is focused on his modern sculpture in his Buenos Aires atelier, although he is very busy with commissions for original works and restorations of Icons. His wife, Selva, continues to assist him, and is busy with her career as a poet.

Nicholas' work is self-categorized as "Modern Mysticism" -- his sculpture portrays the abstract in terms of modern science. -- Nicholas is greatly interested in Electronics and the Engineering Sciences, penchant he apparently inherited from his father, an accomplished Train Engineer.

To contact Nicholas email: contact@nicholasholodek.com