BIO
Nicole O’Loughlin was born in 1978 in Warragul, Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Hobart School of Art in 2009 majoring in printmaking. As part of her undergraduate studies she completed a year at the Universidad de Complutense Madrid, Spain. She works mainly in painting and printmaking.
Nicole O’Loughlin was born in 1978 in Warragul, Australia. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Hobart School of Art in 2009 majoring in printmaking. As part of her undergraduate studies she completed a year at the Universidad de Complutense Madrid, Spain. She works mainly in painting and printmaking.
The artist exhibits regularly in both solo and group exhibitions. Her solo shows include Venutas (Magnolia Cafe, 2010), Metamorphosis (Entrepot, 2009), Dibujo Yo (INFLIGHT, 2009), Herrumbre (Top Gallery, 2009) and Autorretratos (Entrepot Gallery).
O’Loughlin is Co-Director of Red Wall Gallery and works at Criterion Gallery. In 2011 she organised and coordinated the Hobart Art Trail in Elizabeth Street with the public display of 40 artists in 40 shop fronts.
Nicole O'Loughlin
RESIDENCIES
Metamorphosis
11.04.2011 to 29.04.2011
With a perfect command of Spanish language, which speaks with a polished accent from Spain, Nicole discussed with us the second stage of Metamorphosis, a series that she started in Spain during a period of study in the Complutense University. Working collaboratively, the Spanish series printed from rusted metal plates enriched with new layers of print media processes. In this way, the Metamorphosis Series is, as its name suggests, a metaphor for decomposing and transforming forms over time as well as new experiences that altered the artist when she was exposed to different cultures.
ARTIST STATEMENT
What is passed by shall not pass you by. Look a little closer. Place your face near the surface. Squint your eyes so your sight becomes out of focus. Now move back, immersing yourself into the aesthetic comfort of scabby aging layers unfolding before you. Seductive colours produced in the metamorphic corrosion of metal into non-existence. Rust is used to challenge classical ideas of beauty through reinterpreting the mundane.
What is passed by shall not pass you by. Look a little closer. Place your face near the surface. Squint your eyes so your sight becomes out of focus. Now move back, immersing yourself into the aesthetic comfort of scabby aging layers unfolding before you. Seductive colours produced in the metamorphic corrosion of metal into non-existence. Rust is used to challenge classical ideas of beauty through reinterpreting the mundane.
The organic process of rust is used as a visual metaphor of transformation that occurs when people immerse into a foreign culture and language. Through the disassociation that occurs when communicating in another language our senses are heightened to a point where our interpretation on the everyday can be altered to view objects and surroundings in a new light. Little by little the individual is altered through the new experiences.
Metamorphosis is about cultural immersion and identity influenced by the place in where we are at any given moment. It is an exploration of experiences living in foreign culture. The project started when I was undertaking a years study exchange in Spain for a year. As I became more immersed into the Spanish culture and language I became more aware of the small details that I had previously passed by. These ‘mundane’ objects were viewed in a different light and appreciated for their natural beauty of intense colours and patterns.
During this residency at ´ace I will be developing and printing more layers over existing prints that have been made. These new layers will be created whilst on the residency inspired from my experiences in Buenos Aires.
