Nicola Chatham is an artist, writer and Permaculture teacher. She was born in Cohuna, Victoria in 1982 and gained a Bachelor of Fine Art from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University in 2005.
Nicola's art practice centers on a search for intimacy, spiritual connection and adventure through travel to new and revisited places. Landscape, travel, memory and intimate relationships are themes central to her work. She documents journeys through local and international landscapes; making works representative of her physical surrounds and/or psychological experience.
She exhibits paintings, photographs and videos regularly in solo and group exhibitions around Australia and internationally. Solo exhibitions include Garden Diaries, Anita Traverso Gallery, Melbourne (2011); Between Here and There, Logan Art Gallery (2010); With or With Drought You, Redland Art Gallery (2009); Over the Garden Fence, Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery (2008); Today we don't have plans, Anita Traverso Gallery, Melbourne (2008); Natural Instincts, Anita Traverso Gallery, Melbourne (2007). International highlights include the Orebro International Video Festival, Sweden (2008). In 2006 she was awarded the Espresso Garage Award in the Thiess Art Prize at Dell Gallery.
Her artwork is represented in public and corporate collections including the Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, Toyota Finance and Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital. She currently lives in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland, Australia.
Nicola's love of nature and the outdoors is evident in her paintings, as she draws from memories and experiences within the landscape she loves. Ranging from the rugged terrain of Lakefield National Park in Far North Queensland, to the captivating and diverse east coast of Australia, her work reflects a passionate interest in the exploration of her surroundings.
Nicola works mainly with oils, but also explores working in acrylic, pastel, charcoal, watercolour and print media. Nicola has exhibited widely in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Victoria.
Nicola states that her greatest desire is to produce work that is authentic. Usually her paintings and drawings reflect surroundings and personal impressions from expeditions throughout Australia. However, more than the Australian landscape, she is focused on honing her ‘authentic mark-making language'. Nicola believes there is a mark-making language that's unique to every artist and that's what inspires her; the quest to find and maintain her own.