NICK PONT

EXISTENTIAL

12 – 24 October 2022

Opening Night:
Wednesday 12th October 2022, 6 – 8pm

Catalogue & Price List:
View PDF Catalogue

‘EXISTENTIAL’ VIEWING ROOM

We are delighted to have Nick Pont return to Saint Cloche gallery after a very successful debut in our end of year Grotto Group show to present ‘Existential’. This will be Nick’s first solo exhibition in four years and the first since becoming a parent.

“Only those who truly love and who are truly strong can sustain their lives as a dream. You dwell in your own enchantment. Life throws stones at you, but your love and your dream change those stones into the flowers of discovery. Even if you lose, or are defeated by things, your triumph will always be exemplary.”

– Astonishing The Gods – Ben Okri 

Nature is a great teacher of life problems and a supreme inspiration as well. Nature succeeds constantly in its ‘alchemy’ of mysterious healing ways. Like an oyster, that has the capacity for turning a mere grain of irritating sand into a pearl with the calm touch and consistency of nature. Nature enhances and motivates us human beings as well, polishing and honing us, through life’s trials and tribulations.

‘Existential’ is a philosophical inquiry and exploration into human existence as part of nature.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Nick Pont b.1987 graduated with a BFA from the University of Newcastle in 2013 and now lives in Urunga, Bellingen Shire, Gumbaynggirr Country. Between 2013 and 2018 Pont was based in Sydney and held multiple exhibitions influenced by local folk lore, the Australian desert, and expeditions to Asia.

Since relocating in 2018, Nick’s work has always involved a connection to nature. His work provides an ambiguous sophisticated narrative that references contemporary society, literature, and art historical while shifting between themes of utopianism, environmental catastrophe and introspection. Nick’s trajectory is to continue moving, developing, exploring, to continue finding himself in places he did not seek.

Pont has been included in numerous residencies and prizes including the Art Park/ Linnaeus Byron Bay residency, the Fishers Ghost Prize, Muswellbrook Art Prize, Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, and the Waverley Prize. His work is held in private collections across Australia, Asia, Europe and North America.

“The natural world can absorb the weight of internal turmoil – transforming mind weeds into flowers. Much like the way an artist takes raw instincts and powerful emotion and turns them into creations, nature continually transforms itself and provides space to declutter the mind in a subliminal way. The growth and re-manifestation of the landscape provides an ideal to existence, without the unnecessary noise of the modern world. The desire to interpret this through mark-making and form stems from a constant awareness of humanity and its tendency to dismantle itself and the environment around us.

Similarly, nature and painting can only be imperfect. The human condition to seek perfection is a continual mistake in practice. Like meditation, to practice is to leave no trace of yourself, to burn yourself completely, like a good bonfire. The practice must not lose the spirit of repetition otherwise it will become difficult to maintain. By continuing to connect with nature a meditative void is created for practice to grow, transcend, and transform organically – an empty space for intuitive painting, a place to interpret existence.”

– Nick Pont