New Work 2024
Unveiling the Night
18 October – 16 November 2024
ARTEREAL Gallery, Sydney
Explore Unveiling the Night here
Biography
Nicole Welch lives and works in Hill End, NSW, Australia, creating works on location in the Australian landscape.
Nicole Welch’s in-situ works, LAND & BODY, explore personal, cultural, and environmental histories, echoing the symbiotic relationship we have with an enduring natural world and our ephemeral place within it. Her works are physical, personal, and local, while simultaneously archetypal and universal. An illuminated wildness in her imagery echoes hidden undercurrents and tensions, pushing boundaries between reality and illusion, while reaching for resolution through an exploration of landscape and body.
Welch’s process involves traversing areas of bushland to locate significant locations for her compositions utilising performance, research-inspired objects, and in-camera technologies. Recorded onsite, these installations result in photographic and moving image works that capture both past and present ideologies.
Welch has been invited to exhibit nationally and internationally. In 2019, her film Wildēornes Body was selected for the 5th International Motion Festival Cyprus. In 2018, she was a featured artist for ArtState NSW, creating two new works, Transformation and Mementos. Her solo exhibitions have been showcased at various prestigious venues such as ARTEREAL GALLERY (2024), MAY SPACE (2018, 2017), Brenda May Gallery (2015, 2014, 2013), Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (2017), Murray Art Museum Albury (2015), Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (2016, 2012, 2007), Glasshouse Port Macquarie (2018), the University of Wollongong (2008), and the Canberra School of Art (1998). Welch’s work has also been featured in numerous curated exhibitions across the country, and she has been recognised as a finalist in esteemed awards and competitions including the Blake Prize, the Grace Cossington Smith Art Award, and the National Photography Prize.
Welch’s works have been acquired by distinguished institutions such as Artbank, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Murray Art Museum Albury, Parliament House Art Collection Canberra, Macquarie Group, Canberra School of Art Australian National University, Harris Farm Collection, and the National Library of Australia, among others.
As Welch creates location-inspired work, she often engages in immersive residencies and site-related projects. This has led to residencies at The CORRIDOR Project Google Creative LAB (2021), The CORRIDOR Project (2020), the Bilpin International Ground for Creative Initiatives (2016), and Hill End (2014, 2010), as well as multiple commissions, including a large-scale piece for the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre (2013). Welch has won the Windmill Trust Scholarship (2011), the Harris Farm Markets Acquisitive Art Award (2010), the Studio One Residency Award (1998), the Megalo Access Residency Award (1998), and the Chamberlains Law Firm Acquisition Award (1998).
Dedicated to nurturing creative expression and innovation, Welch also holds a part-time educator position at MADE – Media, Arts, Design, and Entertainment TAFE NSW. Her dedication to the arts is evident by her previous role as an elected board member for the CEMENTA Contemporary Arts Festival, Kandos. Furthermore, Welch takes an active role as a lead facilitator for regional community projects, demonstrating her commitment to fostering artistic engagement, collaboration, and cultural enrichment beyond traditional boundaries.
Welch’s upcoming project, Unveiling the Night, has received generous support from the Regional Arts Fund – Regional Arts NSW, Arts Out West, The CORRIDOR Project Artist in Residence Program and the NAVA Benevolent Fund. This new series will be exhibited at ARTEREAL GALLERY, Sydney in 2024, followed by the Orange Regional Gallery in 2025.
Curriculum Vitae
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Unveiling the Night, ARTEREAL GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2021 Nicole Welch: Interruptions and Illuminations, (online), ARTEREAL GALLERY, Sydney, NSW
2020 Yarrahapinni, MAY SPACE, Sydney
2019 Black Box Projects Presents: Nicole Welch, MAY SPACE, Sydney
2019 Stillness & Motion: Nicole Welch, curated by Courtney Wagner, Adelaide Perry Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2019 TRANSFORMATION, MAY SPACE, Sydney, NSW
2018 TRANSFORMATION (featured artist), Tremains Mill curated by Adam Deusien, ArtState NSW, Bathurst, NSW
2018 Nicole Welch: Black Box Projects 2018, MAY SPACE, Sydney
2018 Silence & Solitude: Selected Works from Eastern Interiors, curated by Bridget Purtill, Glasshouse, Port Macquarie
2017 Wildēornes Land, MAY SPACE, Sydney
2017 Wildēornes Land, curated by Sabrina Roesner, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, NSW
2016 Eastern Interiors: Explorations from Bathurst to Albury, curated by Sarah Gurich, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst
2015 Eastern Interiors: Explorations from Bathurst to Albury, travelling exhibition curated by Bianca Acimovic, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Murray Art Museum Albury, NSW
2014 Apparitions, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, Sydney
2013 Illumination, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney
2013 Illumination, curated by Sarah Gurich, Jean Bellette Gallery, Hill End
2012 Illumination: New Work by Nicole Welch, curated by Richard Perram, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst
2008 Stealing Beauty, FCA Gallery, Faculty of Creative Arts, University of Wollongong, NSW
2007 Stealing Beauty, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
Selected Group
2024 Photography & Printmaking, curated by Andrew Totman, CBD Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2023 WEST OF CENTRAL, curated by guest curator Ann Finnegan, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2023 From the Studio, the Artists of Hill End, Hill End Art Gallery, NSW
2023 Beating About The Bush, curated by Louise Tegart, Art Gallery of Ballarat, VIC
2022 Wiradyuri Ngayirr Ngurambang – Sacred Country, a collaboration Nicole Welch, Wiradyuri Elder Wirribee Leanna Carr-Smith, & Kate Smith, Bathurst Winter Festival, Tremains Mill, Bathurst, NSW
2022 Night Lab Bedtime Stories, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA
2020 Sydney Contemporary Presents – MAY SPACE, online Art fair 2020
2020 Kangaroo Valley Art Prize, Kangaroo Valley Hall Gallery, Kangaroo Valley, NSW
2020 Listening in the Anthropocene, H R Gallery, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW
2019-20 The Manly Dam Project, curated by Katherine Roberts, Manly Gallery & Museum, Sydney, NSW
2019-20 Altered States – Tamara Dean & Nicole Welch, curated by Bridget Macleod, Sholahaven Regional Gallery, Nowra, NSW
2019 Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
2019 Naked & Nude Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, Taree, NSW
2019 5th International Motion Festival Cyprus 2019, European University Cyprus
2018 Grace Cossington Smith Art Award 2018, GCS Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2018 ArtState Regional Arts Conference, Mementos series, Bathurst, NSW
2018 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
2017 Windmill 20th Anniversary Retrospective, Murray Art Museum Albury, NSW
2017 Go West, Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, NSW
2017 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
2017 CEMENTA 17, Kandos Contemporary Arts Festival, NSW
2017 MAY SPACE: FOURTEEN, MAY SPACE, Sydney, NSW
2015 30 Years | 30 Artists | 30 Works, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2015 Love. Lament. Loss., Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2015 Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney, NSW
2015 Collectors Edition #2, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Katoomba, NSW
2015 BRAG 200×200, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2014 Elephant in the Room, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2014 Kennedy Prize, Stomping Ground Studios, Adelaide, SA
2014 Green, Lewers Learning Centre, Penrith Regional Gallery, Penrith, WA
2014 The Third Wave: Two Decades of the Hill End Artists in Residence Program, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2014 Landscape, a group exhibition, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2013 Christmas Show, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2013 Wilson Art Award, Lismore, NSW
2013 Art on paper Hazelhurst Art Award, Finalist, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, NSW
2013 Plan B, Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2012 CLIP Award, Perth Centre for Photography, Perth, WA
2012 Head On Portrait Prize, Australian centre for Photography, Sydney, NSW
2012 Flannery Centre Art Prize, Bathurst, NSW
2012 2012 Year of the Dragon, B Block Gallery, Orange, NSW
2010 Harris Farm Markets $5000 Acquisitive Art Prize, Winner, Bathurst City Gallery, NSW
2009 New Figuration, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2008 Printing Figuratively, Port Jackson Press, Centre for Australian Printmaking, Melbourne, VIC
2007 OUT OF THE BLUE into the void, Orange Regional Art Gallery, Orange, NEW
2007 56th Blake Prize for Religious Art, The Gallery, National Art School, Darlinghurst, NSW
2007 The presence of things: sense, veneer and guise, touring exhibition. Faculty Gallery: Monash University, Wangaratta Exhibitions Gallery, Mildura Arts Centre, Warrnambool Art Gallery, Latrobe Regional Gallery, Castlemaine Art Gallery, Ararat Gallery, Tamworth Regional Gallery
2006 A kiss is a stitch- prelude to a broken heart, Nicole Welch & Karen Golland, Warpstanza Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2006 House of Flowers, Installation at Miss Traill’s House, Bathurst, NSW
2006 Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Glen Eira Art Gallery, Melbourne, NSW
2006 Pressing Issues, print symposium, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2005 Art on paper Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Hazelhurst, NSW
2005 New Works-Nicole Welch & Ruth Stone, Warpstanza Gallery, Bathurst, NSW
2004 Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Glen Eira Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2002 Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Glen Eira Art Gallery, Melbourne, VIC
2000 Soft Obsessive Violation, Spiral Arm Gallery, Kingston, ACT
1999 Substance-Emerging Artists 99, ANCA Gallery, Canberra, NCG-Not Conceptually Grounded, Print Folio, Studio One, Canberra, ACT
1998 Ex’cita-Graduatiing Exhibition, Canberra School of Art ANU, Canberra , ACT
1996 Multiple Visions, ANCA Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Collections
Artbank
Art Gallery of Ballarat
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
Macquarie Group Collection
Blue Mountains Cultural Centre
Canberra School of Art Collection, ANU
Greater Western Area Health Service, Health NSW
Harris Farm Markets Collection
Murray Art Museum Albury
National Library Of Australia
Parliament House Art Collection
Private Collections
Education
2016 Masters of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, University NSW, Sydney, NSW
2000 Grad.Dip Edu Art & Design, University of Canberra, ACT
1998 BA Visual Arts (Printmaking) with Honours (First Class), Canberra School of Art, Australian National University, ACT
1996 Japan Student Arts Exchange Program, Kyoto Seika University, Kyoto, Japan
1993 Certificate Fine Art, Western Institute of TAFE, Bathurst, NSW
Awards . Residencies . Commissions
2021 Artist GOOGLE Creative Lab Residency, CORRIDOR Project, Cowra, NSW
2020 Regional Arts Fund Grant 2021 – Regional Arts NSW, NSW
2020 Recipient of NAVA Artists’ Grant, NSW
2020 (Finalist) Kangaroo Valley Art Prize, Kangaroo Valley Hall Gallery, Kangaroo Valley, NSW
2020 Artist Residency CORRIDOR AIR PD LAB, CORRIDOR Project, Cowra, NSW
2019 (Finalist) Naked & Nude Art Prize, Manning Regional Gallery, Taree, NSW
2019 (Finalist) 5th International Motion Festival Cyprus 2019, European University Cyprus
2018 (Featured Artist) ArtState Regional Arts Conference, Bathurst, NSW
2018 (Finalist) Grace Cossington Smith Art Award 2018, GCS Gallery, Sydney, NSW
2016 (Finalist) MAMA Art Foundation National Photography Prize 2016, Murray Art Museum Albury, NSW
2014 Artist in Residence at Hill End, NSW
2014 Kennedy Prize, Stomping Ground Studios, SA, Finalist
2013 Wilson Art Award, Lismore, NSW, Finalist
2013 Art on paper Hazelhurst Art Award, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Finalist, NSW
2013 Blue Mountains Cultural Centre Commission, permanent artwork for the foyer, NSW
2012 APACHE CLIP Award for contemporary landscape photography, Perth Centre for Photography, Finalist, WA
2012 Head On Portrait Prize, Australian centre for Photography, Shortlisted, NSW
2012 Flannery Centre Art Prize, Finalist, NSW
2011 Recipient of the Windmill Trust Scholarship for a Regional NSW Artist, NSW
2010 Harris Farm Markets $5000 Acquisitive Art Award, Winner, NSW
2010 Recipient, Country Energy Funded Residency Awarded; Artists in Residence program Hill End, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2008 Royal Doulton & Jenolan Caves Plate design Commission, NSW
2008 Bathurst Base Hospital Commission, Installation of three light boxes for the Intensive Care Unit waiting room. Greater Western Area Health Service, Health NSW
2007 Blake Prize for Religious Art, Finalist, NSW
2005 Art on paper Hazelhurst Art Award, Finalist, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Finalist, NSW
2004 Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Finalist, Glen Eira Art Gallery, Melbourne, Finalist, VIC
2002 Silkcut Award for Linocut Prints, Finalist, Glen Eira Art Gallery, Melbourne, Finalist, VIC
2000 Artist Grant, Spiral Arm Gallery, Canberra, ACT
1998 Studio One Residency Award, Emerging Artist Support Scheme, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
1998 Megalo Access Residency Award, Emerging Artist Support Scheme, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
1998 Chamberlains Law Firm Acquisition Award, Emerging Artist Support Scheme, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT
Publications . Catalogues . Reviews
Beating Around the Bush exhibition catalogue, Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2023
Gibson, Suzie. Review. How a new art project in Bathurst is embracing the many identities of the town – ‘Wiradyuri Ngayirr Ngurambang – Sacred Country’, The Conversation, 8 July, 2022
Fairley, Gina. Review: Manly Dam Project, Manly Art Gallery (NSW), ArtsHub, 16 January, 2020
Roberts, Katherine, Ian Turner. Manly Dam Project catalogue, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, 6 December, 2019
Altered States, Tamara Dean & Nicole Welch catalogue, Shoalhaven Regional Gallery, Nowra, 30 November, 2019
Walsh, Elli. Nicole Welch. Artist Profile, 20 February, 2019
ArtsHub Review: Jason Wing and Nicole Welch, 4.5 stars, Glasshouse Regional Gallery, 2018
Fairley, Gina. Making it as a regional artist – the realities and the wins, ArtsHub, 16 November, 2018
Artstate Bathurst, Art Almanac, October, p.16. (illustrated), 2018
Telford, Laura. Media artist Nicole Welch explores the colonial history of the Blue Mountains in exhibition at The Glasshouse., Port Macquarie News, 12 October, 2018
Wolifson, Chloé, Nicole Welch: Wildēornes Land. Artlink (online), 6 May, 2017
Episode 1: Cementa17 Festival & Regional Arts. NAVA: In Conversation (podcast), 26 April, 2017
(illustrated) Galleries on the move. Art Almanac, March 2017, p.22, 2017
Clement, Tracey. Fourteen, Art Guide Australia, March/April, p.47, 2017
Milton, Katie. The Planner/Yeah. Cheers. Thanks a lot. SMH, 26-27 November, p.25, 2016
Hill, Emma. Environment art is no longer just a political voice but images that stoke the heart with passion. Western Advocate, 9 July. 2016
20 things to see, hear. Art | 30 Years | 30 Artists | 30 Works, SMH (The Shortlist), 4 Dec, p.2. 2015
30 Years | 30 Artists | 30 Works, Art Almanac, December/January, p.36. 2015
Johnston, David. Table Top Mountain features in Nicole Welch MAMA exhibition. The Border Mail, 23 November. 2015
Nicole Welch: New Work by Nicole Welch, Exhibition Catalogue, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. 2012
Nicole Welch, Stealing Beauty exhibition review, Imprint Magazine. Spring 2007
Out of the blue, Central Western Daily. October 27th 2007
Stealing Beauty, Imprint Magazine. Spring Edition 2007
Emerging artist steals the scene at the regional gallery, Western Advocate May. 19th 2007
Happening Women in Australia & New Zealand Ken Ball, Everbest Printing China. 2007
View Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. May 2007
Presence of things review, Craft Victoria. 2007
Welcome ghosts from the past Mildura Independent Star. 9th February 2007
Feat of natural beauty, Western Advocate. October 26th 2006
Sense, Veneer and Guise, Vogue Living. June 2006
Focus On Pressing Issues, Western Times. January 12th 2006
Up Front Country Style Magazine. July 2005
New Works Imprint Magazine Review. Winter Edition 2005
Art Profile Warp TV. Episode 11 2005
Focus Artist Prime TV, 1st April. 2005
Silkcut Award Finalist Catalogue. 2004
Imprint Magazine Summer Edition. 2003
Silkcut Award Finalist Catalogue. 2002
Soft Obsessive Violation Exhibition Catalogue 2000
Canberra Times Review. June 24th 2000
Substance Emerging Artist Catalogue. 1999
Excita Canberra School of Art Graduating Student Exhibition Catalogue. 1998
Professional Affiliations
Educator, MADE – Media, Arts, Design, and Entertainment TAFE NSW
Former elected board member, CEMENTA Contemporary Arts Festival, Kandos
Nicole Welch at the CORRIDOR AIR PD LAB Artist Residency , CORRIDOR Project, Cowra, NSW. Photo by Ross McDonald
Nicole Welch on location Unveiling the Night series, 2024. Photo by Hugh Stewart