Nicholas Rees was born in Durban, South Africa, and came to Canada at the age of twelve. As an artist he has worked in print making, drawing, sculpture and photography. In 1995 he was selected as the City of Kitchener’s inaugural artist-in-residence. The following year he founded and directed the Kitchener Industrial Artifacts Project in conjunction with the city of Kitchener. The project sought to preserve and celebrate the community’s rich industrial heritage via the preservation and public display of selected pieces of industrial machinery.