NICHOLAS HOLODEK (Микола Голодик-Головатий) was born in in the city of Pokrovsk (then know as Hrysheno), Donetsk oblast, 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 Ostarbeiterlager (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.

He enrolled in the prestigious Mozarteum Music School in Salzburg 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 Hudson, 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.

In the 21st century, Mykola focused on his modern sculpture in his Buenos Aires atelier, on commissions for original works and restorations of Icons. His wife, Selva, continued to assist him, and was busy with her career as a poet.

Nicholas passed away in Buenos Aires in 2008. His wife, Selva passed away in 2024 following a long illnes. Their son, Daniel (Bohdan) lives near New York City.

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

To contact Nicholas email: contact@nicholasholodek.org