Garry Nichols
ARTIST STATEMENT
This current body of work at Ligenza Moore Gallery, New York is the result of many years of working on this series in my studio in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Starting with my notebook sketches, which combined with drawings made directly in nature, I’ve created these large collage drawings. They reflect many of my interests - observing plant forms, history research, mythology, literature, travel, dowsing (water-divining) and Tasmanian First Nation Aboriginal Families.
Since I’ve been living in New York, my own artworks have evolved into personal symbolic landscapes collected from direct observation as an adult Tasmanian and from specific memories of my childhood in Tasmania. In this current work shown at Ligenza Moore the images of Aboriginal Family members are prominently weaving through this landscape.
It is important to me to visit sites of inspiration, to understand the history of Tasmania much closer and the peoples who were displaced and forgotten. My research took me to the Tasmanian Aboriginal Center in Hobart to learn more about the Families I’ve depicted, their names and histories. My Sister Carol raised two Aboriginal children. As adults Nikki and Andre helped guide me with books and resources to understand their history much closer.
This research of the island of my birth is related to the displacement felt by transported convicts (including my own ancestor, Sarah Nichols), more recently to the displaced Tasmanian Aborigines, as well as that caused by my own self imposed exile.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Tasmania, Australia, Garry Nichols studied fine art at the National Art School in Sydney before receiving the Marten Bequest Traveling Art Prize in 1978. This award allowed him to study the works of European masters before moving to New York, where he attended the New York Studio School from 1978 to 1985. Nichols has exhibited extensively in New York, including at the Brooklyn Museum, White Columns, and the Drawing Center, as well as in Australia at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. His work is held in collections in New York, Japan, and Australia. Throughout his career, Nichols has received numerous awards, including grants from the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. In addition to his artistic practice, he has taught painting and drawing at institutions such as Parsons School of Design, the National Academy of Design, and the University of Tasmania.
Nichols lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, while regularly returning to Tasmania to create, exhibit, and teach.
2026 – Distant Lands
Garry Nichols, Tasmanian Families, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5”
Garry Nichols, Tasmanian Families 2, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5”
Garry Nichols, Tasmanian History, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5”
Garry Nichols, Tasmanian Families 6, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5"
Garry Nichols, Map of Tasmania, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5”
Garry Nichols, Tasmanian Families 4, canson colored paper, charcoal, collage, gesso, 25” x 19.5”
Garry Nichols, Ship of Fools Weathervane, oil on wood, metal base, 45” x 44” x ½”
Garry Nichols, Ship of Fools Weathervane, oil on wood (back), metal base, 45” x 44” x ½”
Garry Nichols, Henry Hudson's Half Moon Ship Weathervane, oil on wood, metal base, 57” x 55” x ¾”
Garry Nichols, Henry Hudson's Half Moon Ship Weathervane (back), oil on wood, metal base, 57” x 55” x ¾”
Garry Nichols, Daniel Herbert's Ship Weathervane, oil on wood, metal base, 32” x 48” x ½”
Garry Nichols, Daniel Herbert's Ship Weathervane (back), oil on wood, metal base, 32” x 48” x ½”
2025 – Destination Earth
Jimena with Iguana, 2014
Oil on canvas, 24" x 16"
Garry Nichols, Map of Tasmania on Lily Pads, 2014
Charcoal, pencil, gesso, alkyd resin, map collage on canson paper, 25” x 19 ½” , 30” x 24”