Warren NICHOLS
Western Port
7-30 April 2016
A long held interest in, and active participation within the landscape has been central to my art practice.
My works are concerned, in most instances, with the immediacy, the feeling of being within a landscape. That landscape may be the natural wilderness for which Tasmania is much celebrated, the four seasons as exemplified by a vineyard, snow and ice as experienced in the alpine regions, and more recently the changing mood and rhythm of the sea as observed in Western Port, Victoria.
In having a civil engineering and quality management background, it is not surprising that the approach taken to my painting has primarily been one of process – a process of exploring and applying transparent glazes over a pure white, textured base. This considered and systematic approach allows one to observe and arrive at tones and depth of colour not necessarily experienced by a single, direct application of paint.
Although earlier works were of a more expressionist composition, the Snow and Ice series and recent Western Port works reflect a more minimalist approach whereby the primary interest is in the effect of changing light conditions within a snow or sea environment.
As we know, snow is not white, but rather reflects the ever changing sky and surrounds. In the distance we may see varying shades of cool colours - grey, blue/ grey, and turquoise - that are interspersed with patches of ochre and umber coloured rock formations. At our feet we stand in snow that reflects an array of blue, violet, and grey colour, which is capped with light catching, glistening ice. Similarly, the sea reflects the changing sky, but unlike snow within a more static landscape, the sea’s form is never constant. The sea constantly changes colour, varying from turquoise to a myriad of blue combinations and variations of grey. Waves, small or turbulent, provide a white relief, a flash of movement.
It is this translucency and transition in colour, as dictated by the changing sky and weather patterns over the white surface of snow, or transparency of water, that holds my interest and which I continue to explore in my work.
Warren Nichols, December, 2015
My works are concerned, in most instances, with the immediacy, the feeling of being within a landscape. That landscape may be the natural wilderness for which Tasmania is much celebrated, the four seasons as exemplified by a vineyard, snow and ice as experienced in the alpine regions, and more recently the changing mood and rhythm of the sea as observed in Western Port, Victoria.
In having a civil engineering and quality management background, it is not surprising that the approach taken to my painting has primarily been one of process – a process of exploring and applying transparent glazes over a pure white, textured base. This considered and systematic approach allows one to observe and arrive at tones and depth of colour not necessarily experienced by a single, direct application of paint.
Although earlier works were of a more expressionist composition, the Snow and Ice series and recent Western Port works reflect a more minimalist approach whereby the primary interest is in the effect of changing light conditions within a snow or sea environment.
As we know, snow is not white, but rather reflects the ever changing sky and surrounds. In the distance we may see varying shades of cool colours - grey, blue/ grey, and turquoise - that are interspersed with patches of ochre and umber coloured rock formations. At our feet we stand in snow that reflects an array of blue, violet, and grey colour, which is capped with light catching, glistening ice. Similarly, the sea reflects the changing sky, but unlike snow within a more static landscape, the sea’s form is never constant. The sea constantly changes colour, varying from turquoise to a myriad of blue combinations and variations of grey. Waves, small or turbulent, provide a white relief, a flash of movement.
It is this translucency and transition in colour, as dictated by the changing sky and weather patterns over the white surface of snow, or transparency of water, that holds my interest and which I continue to explore in my work.
Warren Nichols, December, 2015
Warren NICHOLS
Curriculum Vitae
Education (Art)
2011-present Life drawing classes, Hawthorn. Tutor: Yvonne Audette
2002 Life drawing classes, Hobart. Tutor: Dawn Csutoros
1998 Life drawing classes, Hobart. Tutor: Paul Westbury
1981 – 1986 Associate Diploma Art, Craft and Design, University of Tasmania
1975 Adult Education (Painting), Hobart. Tutor: Eileen Brooker
Solo Exhibitions
2014 Western Port II Mingara Gallery, Cowes
2013 Western Port Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne
2012 Western Port Mingara Gallery, Cowes
2010 Snow and Ice Goulburn Street Gallery, Hobart
2007 Grapes and Vines Inka Gallery, Hobart
2004 Waterfalls Inka Gallery, Hobart
2002 Enduring Landscape Inka Gallery, Hobart
Group Exhibitions
2014/2015 Belle Arti Art Prize, Chapman & Bailey Gallery
2014 Junior Arts Festival, Newhaven College, Artist in Residence
2014 Celebrating Westernport & Phillip Island, Saraghi Art Space, Cowes
2012 - present Artists’ Society of Phillip Island Easter Exhibition (annual)
2012 - present Artists’ Society of Phillip Island Cup Weekend Exhibition (annual)
2011 Hawthorn Studio and Gallery/ Hawthorn Artist Society
2006 Huon Art Exhibitions “en Plein Air”
Awards
2015 Best Art Work, Open Section, RSL Phillip Island Spirit of ANZAC Exhibition
2015 Joint winner, Themed Award: A Sense of Place, Artists’ Society of Phillip Island Easter Exhibition
2013 Best Abstract, Artists’ Society of Phillip Island Cup Weekend Exhibition
Memberships
2012-present Member, Artists’ Society of Phillip Island
Member, Hawthorn Artist Society
Reviews
Andersch, Joerg Gallery Watch, The Mercury, Hobart, 17th November 2007
Andersch, Joerg Gallery Watch, The Mercury, Hobart, 23rd November 2002
