Nicola Jackson

Dunedin-based artist Nicola Jackson makes work in an articulately intimate mode, frequently drawing on the domestic life and female identity in a very subtle way, but on occasion reaching over into the expressively grotesque and medical anatomical taxonomy (the physical and metaphysical human body is a preoccupation of much of her art). Her work has a highly stylised, almost cartoon-like sensibility that counterpoints philosophical delicacy with visual robustness and verve, defying simple categorisations and labels, making her a popular artist for projects involving children. Dolls and fantastical self-portraits are frequent motifs in Jackson’s work, which is often highly decorative in incorporating ornamental borders and backgrounds that emphasise the artwork as a collectable object.

Working in a diverse array of media and formats, Jackson has Diplomas in Fine Art in sculpture and printmaking from Canterbury University School of Fine Art, received a prestigious Goethe Institute scholarship to study in Germany in 1992, and was University of Otago Frances Hodgkins Fellow in 1994. In March 2017 Jackson had a major solo show The Bloggs at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She has worked on a number of public commissions and her work is held in collections throughout New Zealand. A major solo show, The Bloggs, opened at Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 2017 and went on to show at six other venues including Toi Moroki COCA in Christchurch and RAMP Gallery in Hamilton.

Dr Andrew Paul Wood