1 – 22 October 2022
about the exhibition
Nicola Dickson is one of the featured artists in the Canberra Art Biennial with a showing at Beaver Galleries of her extraordinary six panel panoramic painting, ‘Paradise Interrupted’, inspired by the Jerrabomberra Wetlands in the ACT. The wetlands came into being when the Molonglo River was dammed in 1964 to create Lake Burley Griffin, a lake designed to ornament a city. The resultant, unplanned wetlands now exist as a literal and metaphoric oasis surrounded by urban development. They provide refuge for many species of birds, including migratory species such as Latham’s Snipe which arrives each year in February after flying nonstop from Japan. The paintings depict some of the bird species readily seen by visitors to this tranquil landscape, while also showing some of the threats to their survival that bound this precious sanctuary.
Nicola Dickson graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Art at the Australian National University in 2003 and completed her doctorate in 2010. Since graduating, she has exhibited widely. In 2013 she was a finalist in the Sulman Prize, and in 2013 and 2014 she was Highly Commended in the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize. Her work was included in the National Portrait Gallery exhibition ‘So Fine: Contemporary women artists make Australian history’ in 2018 and is represented in the collections of the Canberra Museum & Gallery and Parliament House. Nicola Dickson has undertaken several art residencies, including in Rhode Island in 2019 and Mildura in 2021
