Artist Statement

By aiming to remind audiences that we are fundamentally connected to water, I use the unique camera-less medium of wet-process photograms to expose photographic paper underwater at night time. This creates a tangible imprint that reveals traces of the cosmic phenomena of water contents, mirroring its strangeness, wildness, stillness and peace. The paper is a receptacle of shapes and surface tensions, like a skin of the water. The photograms reveal the energy and motion of water and its diverse, elusive qualities in the form of drips, ripples, circles, swirls, and vortexes. This language of symbols and remnant patterns is digitally converted to immersive light projections that bring out the shadows and refractions in slow circular transitions.

Artist Bio

Nikala Bourke is an emerging Tasmanian artist based in Hobart. Working primarily in photography and the visual arts, she completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in 2017 at the College of the Arts, University of Tasmania. She is represented by Penny Contemporary Gallery in Hobart as well as the Henry Jones Art Hotel in Hobart, where she has a permanent collection available for purchase. She is a casual tutor in first-year photography to students at the College of Media and Art, University of Tasmania.