Artereal Gallery - .Art Gallery Sydney Australia

upcoming
Exhibition

Installation Images

Nicole Welch

Unveiling the Night

18 October - 16 November 2024

Exhibition Opening Event:
Saturday 19th October from 2-5pm

This October, Artereal Gallery is delighted to showcase the lyrical and haunting works of Nicole Welch, an innovative artist who draws inspiration from the breathtaking landscapes of Hill End, NSW, Australia. Known for her immersive and location-inspired creations, Welch draws deeply from the breathtaking Australian landscape, inviting viewers to experience its beauty through her unique artistic lens. With a career spanning more than two decades, Nicole Welch has garnered national acclaim, with works held within many major collections and regularly presented as part of significant institutional exhibitions across Australia.

Nicole Welch’s latest body of work, set in the nocturnal landscapes of Hill End, captures the elusive magic that resides within the natural world at night. Using state-of-the-art infrared cameras, Welch offers a glimpse into the hidden lives of the bush’s inhabitants. However, these works are far from being mere documentation. Instead, they remind us that photography—often regarded as a medium of precision—can also embrace mystery, creativity, and illusion.

In works like Unveiling #2 – waxing crescent moon, 9°, 15th of April, 2024, Welch reconfigures time, layering the journeys of different animals whose paths crossed in the same patch of bush at various moments. In Welch’s depiction, however, their separate encounters become entangled, suggesting they might almost share the same space. Through this magical interweaving of time and space, Welch unveils the secret lives of the night—revealing a softer, more dreamlike side of the bush. This is not the harsh, sun-drenched landscape we often associate with the Australian wilderness, but a moonlit world steeped in quiet escapism, a refuge the artist herself sought as she acclimated to her new home in Hill End.

There’s an eerie, ghostly quality to these photographs, yet it is Welch who embodies the ghostly presence. She positions her cameras during the day but does not witness the night’s unfolding events firsthand. This absence imbues the series with a thematic tension between presence and invisibility, prompting viewers to consider who truly inhabits this nocturnal world—who is present, and who is not.

Welch’s images pay homage to the history of photography, alluding to the visual language of daguerreotypes and early black-and-white photography. However, her use of modern technology—typically reserved for surveillance—subverts expectations. Rather than emphasizing the stark, dangerous qualities we often associate with the night, Welch softens the imagery, transforming it into something gentle and mysterious. The result is a night-time world that invites rather than intimidates, brimming with subtle magic.

By blurring the lines between reality and illusion, Welch brings artistry back into photography. These works are not simply technical feats, but portals into a world teeming with life—a skulk of foxes, a herd of deer, a passel of possums. The Australian bush, animated by these creatures, is captured and magnified, offering viewers a renewed sense of wonder.

An undeniable influence on this series is the famed Holtermann Collection, a cache of late 19th-century glass plate negatives documenting Hill End during the Gold Rush. The echoes of this historical context, with its early experiments in photography, resonate throughout Welch’s work. Yet despite her fascination with the past, Welch’s training as a printmaker also informs her practice. This background allows her the freedom to bend the traditional rules of photography, infusing her images with a painterly quality. Welch’s photographs embrace texture and atmosphere, eschewing the obsession with sharpness and control often associated with the digital age. In her hands, photography becomes a medium of expressive potential, capable of blurring, softening, and amplifying the emotional resonance of each scene.

In certain works, particularly those in portrait orientation, there is a quiet nod to the tradition of Chinese landscape painting—an acknowledgment of the contributions of Chinese immigrants to the 19th-century Gold Fields of Hill End. Through these subtle gestures, Welch weaves together personal, historical, and artistic threads, creating a body of work that is as much about place and time as it is about beauty and mystery.

In this new series, Nicole Welch invites us to reconsider what we think we know about the night and the natural world, offering instead a vision that is tender, layered, and full of wonder.

Nicole Welch is currently working towards a major solo exhibition to be held at Orange Regional Gallery in mid 2025. This will be followed by a touring survey exhibition which will include works made between 2012 -2026, commencing at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in 2026.

Rhianna Melhem
Curator

“Unveiling the Night reveals the nocturnal wildlife that inhabit the landscape of Hill End, NSW, where I live. As I sleep, these native and introduced species continue their routines, instincts, and behaviours, shaped by the need to survive. Their presence fascinates me, and I am drawn to understand their roles within this ecosystem—their impact both beneficial and detrimental.

Navigating the wilderness around Hill End, I see the landscape as a dynamic stage where each animal enacts a unique role. Through the lens of my camera, these creatures emerge as protagonists in a narrative of connection, resilience, and the delicate balance between humanity and nature. This journey serves as a metaphor for our evolving relationship with the environment.

Through documenting these animals, I emphasize the importance of coexistence and understanding between humans and wildlife. My hope is that the images evoke in viewers feelings of appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the natural world.

My presence in this work is articulated through the considered placement of cameras, representing a deliberately minimal intervention. Using night vision camera traps—technology often employed by both conservationists and hunters—I engage with the landscape and its fauna delicately, ensuring least disturbance. This process involves extensive periods of walking, observing, responding, and methodically curating footage to represent the essence of these animals’ natural behaviours. The dual use of this technology reflects a nuanced understanding of how humans interact with wildlife, whether for protection or pursuit.

Overall, this exploration—capturing wildlife and reflecting internally—echoes broader discourses of humanity’s relationship with nature and underscores the mutual reliance of all living beings. For me personally, living in Hill End has deepened this connection. The project marks a period of reflective, healing, self-discovery and transformation, paralleling the resilience observed in nature.”

Nicole Welch
Artist Statement (2024)

Artereal Gallery and Nicole Welch acknowledge the traditional custodians of the Wiradyuri country on which these artworks were made and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.

The creation of Unveiling the Night has been generously supported by

Regional Arts Fund Project Grant
Arts OutWest
The CORRIDOR Project – Artist in Residence Program
NAVA Benevolent Fund
Orange Regional Gallery