Vicki Salmi is a neurodivergent, working-class, visual artist originally from Deal in Kent, now living in Ramsgate.
Vicki’s practice is thought and process driven, centred around the embracing and exploration of her late diagnosed ADHD, which was exposed when she embarked on a degree in Fine Art in her 50s. It unbound her from over 30 years of rigid constraints of working in various office admin jobs in the public sector and she graduated with BA and an MA in Fine Art.
Her work embraces spontaneity, disruption, and sensory overload—layering colour, texture, and movement through painting, collage, printmaking, textiles, and film. Exploring the interplay between chaos and control, rebellion and restraint, her process thrives on contradiction—planning and unplanning, breaking rules, embracing imperfection, and seeing what happens.
Vicki has exhibited widely. With two solo shows and numerous group exhibitions—including Turner Contemporary Open and the Graduate Art Show—her work has also been commissioned by Light Up Ramsgate, Looping the Loop, Stretch Outsider, POW Thanet, and The Cross in London. She has received Bursaries and Awards from West Dean College, The Nick Jack Scholarship for Fine Art, and the UCA Business Enterprise Award for Makers.
She is a studio holder at Emily Peasgood Studios and is part of the programming team for Crate Studio and Project Space. She is also a creative workshop tutor at UCA and was previously part of the student atelier on the Kings Hill Project by UCA with Yinka Ilori.