Wonder
that sensation triggered by encountering the strangely new
Biography
Born in Australia, Nicola lives and works in Canberra. She attended the Australian National University, completing a Bachelor of Visual Art in 2003 and a PhD in 2010.
Nicola uses painting, drawing and installation to create finely detailed works that explore the sense of wonder she feels in response to contact with the natural world. To make artworks that convey this mixture of awe and curiosity, she studies and collects archival images and texts made by early European settlers and explorers to Australia and the Pacific. In the studio she transforms these historical sources by combining them with decorative forms typical of the same period. The hybrid forms are then melded with sketches and photographs she has taken to document her own observations of the natural world. By contemplating what is felt to be strange and new, the resultant artworks touch on questions of human and national identity and our response to cultural Place.
Nicola is represented by Beaver Galleries, Canberra. Works available for sale can be found using the following link.
Yellow Wattlebird and Richea scoparia, 2017, 76 x 111 cm, acrylic and oil on linen
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