I am a broker of delightful disruption, hell-bent on making love cool again.

I am a performer, live composer, visual artist, curator, director, educator and producer. After a couple of decades in NYC and a few years in Paris, I have returned to Oklahoma, where I explore opportunities to use my various talents for the common good.

My personal work is informed by decades of multidisciplinary collaboration with artists of differing cultures, ages, abilities and disciplines sharing space to explore the intersectionality between individuality and shared humanity. My life, which necessarily shapes my work, is itself informed by trauma; with an ACE score of 10, I’ve learned resilience, and how to build environments of safety, inclusivity, equity, compassion and belonging. Together, my work and life converge around Love, the great, mysterious expansiveness that calls to the best in us.

PERFORMANCE

I am a working actor (member AEA, SAG-AFTRA) and an award-winning* audiobook narrator. I am a classically-trained in theater and have a deep love for language; I also have a deep love for experimentation, and have found myself in beautifully absurd expressions of the human experience across the world. I happily embrace “guest artist” teaching opportunities, and have had the good fortune of influencing young creative minds through techniques of improvisation, acting and voice.

Audie Finalist, Fiction, 2009
Audie Finalist, Paranormal, 2016
Audie Finalist, Romance, 2017
Earphones Award Winner, Science Fiction, 2019
Earphones Award Winner, Romantic Fiction, 2019
Earphones Award Winner, Science Fiction, 2014
Earphones Award Winner, Fiction, 2014
Earphones Award Winner, Fiction, 2010
Publishers Weekly, Full Cast, 2010
Independent Audiobook Award, Paranormal, 2018
American Library Association's Listen List, Science Fiction, 2017

SOUNPAINTING

Nicole is a blonde woman with pale skin. She wears red workers' coveralls and is making a dynamic gesture at dancers and musicians.

I am one of only a handful of theatre artists certified in Soundpainting, a compositional sign language for composing in real time, created by composer Walter Thompson. I am a core member of the Walter Thompson Orchestra, and a founding member of Kollecti’F, the International Feminine Poetic Cabaret. I teach, perform, compose, and consult with organizations to maximize multidisciplinary potential. In 2021, I created SPARK!, Oklahoma’s first Soundpainting ensemble.

CURATION

I am the curator and caretaker of The O. Gail Poole Collection, an enormous catalogue of artwork created by my late father. Thanks to an unconventional, grassroots effort to elevate his work and message, this heretofore unknown, 4th-generation Oklahoman is making a comeback.

HIJINX

I wouldn’t be me without hijinx. My childhood paved the way for a lifelong love of absurdism and magical realism; I follow the muse of delightful disruption and boisterous fun whenever I can; I invite you to follow me on Insta at @rogueokie and @wordsmiff405