Wildēornes Land #1 - Capertee Valley, 2017
Wildēornes (Old English): a land inhabited only by wild animals. The Wildēorness Land series reflects the inherent loss and uncertainty we face for the natural environment, through the symbolism of an 1880’s mourning shawl and projections of historical illustrations installed in the World Heritage Blue Mountains National Parks. Combining installation, photography, moving image, sound and drawing upon archival records to explore the landscape through a historical, cultural and ecological lens, Welch aims to reveal the symbiotic relationship humans have with the natural world, and the fragility and strength of both. Welch spent several weeks at BigCi artist residency near Wollemi National Park where she researched and created this work on location. The Capertee Valley is renowned for its world heritage Wollemi wilderness, flora, fauna and distinctive array of birdlife, including the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. Abundant mineral resources of coal, limestone and oil shale has led to an expansion of a mining within the region which threatens this irreplaceable ecosystem. In Wildēornes Land #1 the delicate chantilly lace mourning shawl is suspended inverted in front of a panoramic view of the Capertee Valley, the form of the shawl resembles a stoic mountain, becoming a constructed mountain of mourning. pigment print, face-mounted 80 x 142cm edition of 6
Wildēornes Land #2 - Capertee Valley, 2017 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch pigment print, face-mounted 80 x 142cm edition of 6
Wildēornes Land #3 - Grose Valley, 2017
“In Wildēornes Land #3 something has shifted. Nature is no longer secure. With climate change the big scary wilderness has lost its power. Welch occupies the same position as Casper David Friedrich’s confident wanderer, immaculate in 18th century gentleman suit, surveying the mighty realm. Welch by contrast, in mourning garb, offers herself, naked and sacrificial, to a world on the brink of being lost.” Dr Ann Finegan Wildēornes Land Catalogue essay giclée print, face-mounted 80 x 142cm edition of 6
Wildēornes Land #5 – Wollemi, 2017
Ganguddy as it is known to local Wiradjuri Aboriginal people, or Dunns Swamp is a serene waterway on the Cudgegong river, the vast swamp is an unnatural phenomenon created when Kandos weir was built in the late 1920s. In Wildēornes Land #5 – Wollemi the actual landscape is juxtaposed against the illusory landscape reflected in the water with both existing simultaneously – parallel – as scenes within a photograph; an illusion. The skyscape within the skyscape becomes a double translation, a hall of mirrors, a beautiful deception. giclée print, face-mounted 80 x 142cm edition of 6
Wildēornes Body, 2017 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch Wildēorness Body reflects the inherent loss and uncertainty we now face for the natural environment, while simultaneously being a personal acknowledgement of the artist embracing her mortality. Swathed in a Victorian 1880s chantilly lace mourning shawl, the artist lay on a large mirror that reflects the sky and the canopy of trees above. Through the symbolism of the mourning shawl and the endurance of holding a pose over time, Welch aims to reveal the symbiotic relationship humans have with the natural world, and the fragility and strength of both. Welch spent several weeks at BigCi artist residency near Wollemi National Park where she researched and created this work. time-lapse film edition of 6
Wildēornes Body, 2017. Installation CEMENTA 17 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch time-lapse film, internal and external audio tracks. edition of 6
Tondo #4, Projection - Regent Honeyeater from 'The Birds of Australia: in seven volumes', John Gould, 1848, 2016
An illustration by ornithologist John & Elizabeth Gould of the the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater appears as a digital projection on the embankment of Coco Creek in the Gardens of Stone National Park, one of its last remaining habitats. giclée print, face-mounted 60cm diameter edition of 6
Frightful Tremendous Pass #2, 2015
The text projected onto the landscape is extracted from the description that Governor Macquarie used to describe the descent from the Blue Mountains – a “Frightful Tremendous Pass”; it is a word that aptly portrays the way many colonists felt about the unfamiliar environment they found themselves in. giclée print on archival Hahnemühle fine art paper 100 x 100cm edition of 6
Apparitions #1 - Mount Arapiles and the Mitre Rock 1863, Nicholas Chevalier , 2014
In the apparitions series of photographs of media installations in the Australian landscape, projected images emerge from the terrain and escarpment, appearing and receding simultaneously. Working on location in the Australian wilderness Welch has projected circular fragments extracted from iconic Australian landscape paintings using a high resolution media projector. These works reveal the embedded cultural history and idealism projected onto this land since colonisation, centering on the Australian Romantic landscape painters who brought a European sensibility and vision to their depictions of this 'new' world. pigment ink, face-mounted 95 x 200cm (also available 61 x 130cm) edition of 6 in two sizes (Projected image - Mount Arapiles and the Mitre Rock 1863, Nicholas Chevalier, courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia)
Magnificent Prospect #2, 2015
In the Eastern Interiors series the placement of a mirror into the landscape is symbolic of history and perception, an invitation to the viewer to reflect on the numerous historical paradigms that inform our present-day relationship to country. giclée print on archival Hahnemühle fine art paper 100 x 200cm (also available 65 x 130cm) edition of 6 in two sizes. 2015
East West, 2015 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch East West from the Eastern Interiors series (2015) captures an antique mirror placed on the ground to reflect the sky as it transitions from day to night. Constructed from 3000 photographs taken over a twelve- hour period, the film acknowledges the sky as an enduring navigational device, historically used by humans to traverse the terrain of the earth from east to west, a tool to map, contest and claim. The clouds and stars reflected travel across the mirror forming a hypnotic sequence, encapsulating the recoded time (past), viewed in current time (present), while creating a space for contemplation (future) timelapse film - 3:30min edition of 6
Illumination #6, 2012
In the Illumination series, a lit crystal chandelier is installed in the landscape, suspended from a crane and powered by a generator. A chandelier offers illumination and has a distinctly European history, a history that allegorically links it to power, specifically imperial power. pigment ink facemounted 60X120cm 2013 edition of 6
Lightscape #4, 2012 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch Placed in the Australian environment, the chandelier used in the Illumination series (2012) becomes a representation of the British Empire and the empirical conviction that to colonise was to spread the light of civilisation. in Lightscape #4, the empire has fallen. pigment ink facemounted 60x120cm 2012 edition of 6
Wildēornes Land locations 2017 Nicole Welch
Nicole Welch Collecting sound recordings at Mt Lagoon, Blue Mountains for the Wildēornes Land series. Photoshoot at Ganguddy Swamp, Wollemi National Park
