Nicolson was born in Comox, British Columbia, Canada, and currently lives in Victoria. She is a member of the Dzawada’enuxw band of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nations. She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Emily Carr Institute of Arts and Design in Prince George, British Columbia, in 1996, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 1999. She also earned a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Anthropology in 2005, and a Ph.D. in Linguistics, Anthropology, and Art History in 2013. Nicolson’s artwork draws upon elements of her Kwakwaka’wakw culture. She is well known for her site-specific works, and in 2015, she was commissioned by the Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, British Columbia, to create two twenty-eight foot tall glass totems titled "Rivers Monument".