Annabel NOWLAN
Born in Young NSW, 1956
The intrinsic and identifiable characteristic of Annabel Nowlan’s art practice stems from a long connection to land; the land of her family farm and of the Wiradjuri people, at Bimbi in south western NSW.
Nowlan has had numerous Solo and Group Exhibitions throughout Australia and is hung in many public, corporate and private collections in Australia, UK and the United States.
Although Annabel says she finds it difficult to describe her works - because they sit somewhere between abstraction and illustration and often address obscure and evocative concepts – she believes her art is nonetheless "identifiable as being connected to the land," primarily because of the materials, surfaces and colours she uses.
Annabel finds inspiration in the oddest and most unlikely circumstances and objects. In particular, mundane things, such as a worn tin, an old jerry-built shed or a sun-perished, patched tarpaulin - "things that collectively create some kind of unique identity". She sometimes engraves metal, uses rivets, spray-paints stencils or cobbles together materials in a process of recycling that reflects a resourcefulness born out of necessity. Annabel says it is in this way that "both artists and farmers utilise materials and skills in similar ways."
