Australian Women Artists

The podcast

Ep 85 Nell

Nell is one of Australia's most distinctive contemporary artists, working across painting, sculpture, performance, video and installation.

She has spent three decades building a visual language shaped by rock 'n' roll, Buddhist philosophy and religious iconography. Smiley faces, lightning bolts, ghosts, tears and eggs recur throughout her art and help create works that have been described as playful, insightful and poetic.

Her work explores the binaries of human existence – birth and death, sorrow and happiness, light and dark.

It’s a fascinating story and, with 300+ exhibitions to consider, I’ve had the unenviable task of choosing just a few to discuss without minimising the others otherwise we’d be still chatting well into 2027!

‘Nell has developed a unique visual language that traverses scale, medium and materiality. Regardless of the outcome, her work explores oppositional thresholds and the fertile space that exist beyond the binary: from intimate to immersive, found to fabricated, high to low culture, two-dimensions to three-dimensions, individual to collaborative, ancient to contemporary, sacred to profane.... At the heart of Nell’s practice is an offering of connection and companionship; a reminder that we are not alone.’ Station Gallery (representing Nell).

To have a listen to our conversation, head to my bio or search ‘Australian Women Artists’ wherever you normally find your podcasts.

Images

1. Holding Both, 2026, Museum of Contemporary Art, Photo Anna Kucera

2. Let There Be Robe, 2011, Museum of Old and New Art, Photo Rémi Chauvin

3. ROCK GATE, 2019, Carriageworks, Photo Zan Wimberley

4. Nell x Colin McCahon: Through the Wall of Birth and Death, 2024, Dowse Art Museum, Photo Sam Hartnett

5. Face Everything, 2025-26, Heide Modern, Photo Christo Crocker

6+7. NELL ANNE QUILT, 2020-24, Photo Jenni Carter