Rosie Nicholson
Degree: First degree Honors Fine Art
University: Bath Spa university
Graduation Year: 2023
New Blood Art Commentary
Whilst the pure white of plaster work calls to mind perfectly proportioned classical nudes, detailed reliefs or the bust of a celebrated dignitary, Rosie Nicholson's works in this medium are original and unexpected. Blooming organic shapes that seem to swell and multiply before the eyes and intricately textured cylinders abound, as Rosie's practice leans in to the transformative nature of plaster to embrace the experimental and unexpected. 'Leaning Core', 'Excavations' and 'Excavation Stack' are at once reminiscent of classical columns and tree trunks or extracted ice cores. Whilst the central plaster pieces themselves are similar, their remarkably different presentations opens each up to different stories and interpretations. 'Excavation''s placement on a wire display implies an exhibit, a rare archaeological find, where 'Excavation Stack' suggests a column or plinth, and 'Leaning Core' placement in a group suggests discarded organic material like logs or tree trunks. 'In Slip' features smaller, softer-contoured pieces whose scattered placement calls to mind organic forms such as fungi, guts or worm casts. Across Rosie's work, this traditional material gains an unexpected vibrancy and unpredictability. Rosie is a 2023 graduate from Bath Spa, and is a New Blood Emerging Art Prize nominee.
Artist Statement
My practice is process based and driven by an ongoing investigation into materials such as plaster, clay, slip, and wax, which are used in a way that challenges traditional norms. I am interested in matter, a physical shift between material states that are subject to change. These include pouring, peeling, revealing and relinquishing my control over the outcomes of the processes. Chance informs the physical outcomes of the work achieved through experimentation and testing. It is always a surprise, an unexpected morphological trace of a moment, captured in the matter.
Observations of natural, geological, and archaeological forms, feed into the visual imagery which is achieved in the transformation of the materials. This introduces a conversation between natural and man-made forms and bears a resemblance to these natural phenomena. I enjoy creating these connections and introducing some ambiguity. Is the artwork a piece of nature or is it a man-made construction? Questions also emerge about the context in which these art forms might be placed and how they can integrate within a landscape. Are they pieces which could also feel at home beside the rock formations & fossils displayed in Museum cases? Are they from an archaeological dig? What creatures have excavated these materials and left their traces?
My work is open to the interpretation and imagination of the viewer.
Group Exhibitions
(2023) Start Art x New Blood art, Saatchi Gallery, London
(2023) Aqua Sulis, OXO tower, Barge house, London, Southbank
(2023) Graduate exhibition, locksbrooke, Bath spa
(2023) WIP, Bath Artist studios, Bath
(2022) Fresh salad art, Walcott chapel, Bath
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2023) Artist in residence at Bath Artist Studios.
(2023) Batchelors degree in Fine Art with Honors, Bath Spa University
(2023) New Blood Art, Emerging Art Prize Nominee