My work as an artist has led me to be an experienced collector of ephemeral things. Installing a sculpture of 150 steel birds this month took me back to when I first began, collecting paper aeroplanes I found on the street…
Read MoreBall Seals: or the little glass balls found in fountain pen ink cartridges
Artist’s journal: As I write I have a collection of these little transparent spheres, often frosted and some stained with ink, on my desk in front of me. It strikes me that I have always been fascinated by transparency, and by the tiny fragments which come together or signal something more significant over time.
Read MoreColour Theory - Johannes Itten
Colour theory is really a foundational element of art making even in a black and white or metal piece I still consider it. This blog piece by Peter Kraus discusses some seminal writings on the topic. I have been inspired by many of these books.
Read MoreThe River Series - the fluid nature of ink, tides and time
This series of artworks are part of the ‘Intersection’ body of works, a collaboration between visual artist Nicola Anthony & poet Marc Nair which explores unspoken histories in Yangon, London, and Singapore. Waterways were a feature of each city that has shaped them geographically, physically and historically.
Read MoreInspiration from Space
Just a quick post to say, you MUST check out new Google Space:http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/
(Don’t run it on IE, I suspect it will not work!)
I have spent an hour just skimming around between the stars and getting some kind of perspective on just how infinitesimal our solar system is in the grand scheme of things. Beautiful and humbling.
Read MoreA poem about Migration - part of the Sovereign Art Prize shortlisted work 'Poetry Net (I)'
The artwork Poetry Net (I) has been shortlisted for the Sovereign Asian Art Prize. It is a text-artwork featuring a poem.
The poem represents the sentiments of hundreds of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers I have spoken with about how they deal with being without a home, shifting identities, endangerment and battling with a sense of 'otherness'.
Read MorePress Release: A Desire for Closeness, solo exhibition, Jan 2020
Artist invites anyone feeling lonely to write to her & creates an exhibition about isolated communities in the epidemic of loneliness
Read MoreThe Artist as a migrant: Living life on the border
My work often tells the stories of people who live life on the border - be that the edge of a geography, an identity, or even time.
Read MoreThe Artist as a migrant: Finding migration experiences
Over the years I have created many text sculptures. These sculptures start off their lives as spoken stories, life stories, human stories.
Read MoreThe Artist as a migrant: From one Island to another
I feel it is time to share the reason why I make the work I do, to tell you a bit about my personal transcultural background. This is not written on my ‘artist bio’, but it is the thing that leads me to delve into the sometimes sensitive topics which I explore through art.
Read MoreLookback: Two artworks about 'home'.
Here, Nicola shares some thoughts on the works she has created for EXPARTE, an exhibition curated by curator collective Something Human in London, 2015. Discussing themes of language, text and journey, she describes her interactive artwork ‘Six Thousand Moments’ and her piece ‘Constellation’.
Read MoreFrom my art studio in Los Angeles →
Recently I asked myself three questions: What is home? What do I need in order to create? And why is English such a different language to American?!
Read MoreShare with me in Unexpected Happiness
Do you believe in serendipity? It often seems to me that the things which occur seem to be just the right thing - even if I don't know it at the time, I do believe that life's twists and turns have their purpose. That the lows help us value the highs. I experience lots of moments of unexpected happiness, small snatches of joy, which catch me unaware. I try to be open to this - noticing when something is wonderful or good, even if it's simply the pattern of a coffee spill that turned out to be quite beautiful - it's up to me whether to decide it's a mess to be mopped up or a chance for inspiration, (or perhaps a learning about the usefulness of coasters).
Read MoreTime is like a river that flows from the past
Underground there are many unseen streams, tributaries and flows which lead into the river itself. On my calligraphy paper this becomes a metaphor for the invisible elements all around us in life that lead to the path we find ourselves on. Fragments from Marc’s poems float alongside the inky river banks.
Read MoreThis goes further than art - this is a life which we could save
As my project with Singapore Art Museum develops and we speed towards the resulting exhibition, I have been honoured to meet, be inspired by, and share stories with members of the Singapore community, including it's migrant workers.
This is a story I wanted to share before the exhibition, because it is one that goes further than art - this is a life of an individual, and he needs your help.
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On Trust: Changi Women’s Prison Artist Mentor Programme (Yellow Ribbon Project)
Throughout my practice, I have been fascinated by people’s stories, social memory and oral history. There is a warmth and kinship in connecting with people, hearing their stories and knowing that it took a lot of courage to talk about painful or life-changing experiences close to their heart. To understand another person’s existence, their joys, fears and learnings, forms an inherent and essential part of my artistic approach. Which is why the opportunity to take on the role of a mentor in the Art Programme at Changi Women's Prison is both special and valuable to my creative development.
Read MoreSaint Paul’s Survives: The burned ink painting of London’s iconic Cathedral
Today I will share with you an interesting historical fact (plus a couple of interesting tangents). It’s not a religious post but this happens to be about a Saint – St. Paul, whose feast day is today: 29th June.
Earlier this year I exhibited this artwork which features St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The artwork is a symbol of human survival, resilience and courage, as well as making a stand, and having faith in ourselves and others. As a point of intersection between Singapore and London, the former Supreme Court of Singapore which is now National Gallery Singapore is said to take inspiration from Christopher Wren’s dome design for St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Entitled Saint Pauls Survives (Ghosts of the past), this artwork is inspired by the photograph (also captioned ‘St. Pauls Survives’) published in newspapers after the night raid of 29/30 December 1940, the 114th night of the London Blitz of World War II.
Found Articles: The body as shelter - A conversation with Antony Gormley
This article has been inhabiting my mind for the past week - having re-read it's morsels of creative conceptual thought a few times, I believe it's an important interview for any contemporary artist or creative to be aware of. Coming from one of my major inspirations, Antony Gormley, are his thoughts on art, space, time, and the body. (Check out the original interview by Karlyn De Jongh here.)
Read MoreInspirations: The Library of Babel
Whilst my artwork David Copperfield is being exhibited at Ikkan Art Gallery in Singapore, I wanted to share one of the inspirations behind the piece with you. It is a book called The Library of Babel, a short story by Argentine author and librarianJorge Luis Borges (1899–1986). The author imagines a universe in the form of a vast library containing all possible 410-page books of a certain format.
Read MoreInspiration from Space
Just a quick post to say, you MUST check out new Google Space:http://workshop.chromeexperiments.com/stars/
(Don’t run it on IE, I suspect it will not work!)
I have spent an hour just skimming around between the stars and getting some kind of perspective on just how infinitesimal our solar system is in the grand scheme of things. Beautiful and humbling.
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