Logan duo shine at Brisbane Portrait Prize awards

UPDATE: The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) supports the development of arts, culture and heritage in Logan. It is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Logan City Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland. Applications close on 18 October – learn more on the Logan City Council website.

Award-winning artist Nicola Hooper has received yet another accolade as a Brisbane Portrait Prize finalist this August, guided by intuition, passion and 65,000 years of history.

Nicola’s striking work, titled Kyra, was chosen to hang in the State Library of Queensland Gallery until 10 November 2024. The Shailer Park artist and educator was inspired after reading about a woman who became infected with a python parasite after eating greens she picked near a lake.

Nicola has held a lifelong fascination with the idea of animals fusing with humans through animal-borne disease, and the intrinsic ties between all beings in the natural world.

Her medical need to inject pork insulin as a young girl with diabetes became the springboard for her current and ongoing body of work, which takes form through a deeply intuitive and organic process

‘I have little triggers, often felt while researching, which lead me on a path,’ Nicola says.

‘Learning about the woman with the python parasite gave me visions of Medusa, so I started drawing pythons and posted an image of them.’

In a twist of serendipity, one of Nicola’s former students – Quandamooka woman and fellow City of Logan artist, Kyra Mancktelow – contacted her after seeing the post.

‘I was pretty chuffed with the synchronicity of it all, because First Nations people have animal totems and Kyra’s just happened to be the python,’ Nicola says.

‘She has a connection to the creatures and even has a python tattoo on her forearm, which gave this work so much more validity.’

The Kyra artwork combines photography with lithography – a challenging form of printmaking that requires an aluminium plate and drawing in reverse.

It depicts a contemplative Kyra with a head full of writhing pythons.

‘I wanted to combine the two mediums because it was something different and challenging, as I normally draw everything,’ Nicola says.

‘It was such a cool experience for us to collaborate again, especially because all the press material that went out mentioned that we were both from Logan.

‘As with all of my work, I hope it provides a more balanced perspective on the natural world and an appreciation for every part of it.’

Nicola also has been holding a national touring exhibition, ZOONoses, that is coming to an end in March 2025. Her upcoming solo exhibition will open in the same month at Logan Art Gallery.

Called A Bestiary of Reverie, the exhibition is supported by the Regional Arts Development Fund, will feature Kyra and continue to explore the ties between human and nature.

The exhibition will feature various installations, including chandeliers, gilded frames and wallpapers, along with lithographs and watercolour paintings of mythical creatures.

For details about A Bestiary of Reverie, bookmark the Logan Art Gallery website for updates when available.

Photo above: Logan artist Nicola Hooper. Photo by David Hooper.