Bayside Gallery is proud to present ZOONOSES, a major touring exhibition showcasing artworks by Dr Nicola Hooper.
Dr Nicola Hooper has taken the darker side of nature and turned it into exquisite, thought-provoking art.
Through drawing and lithography, Nicola uses fairy-tale iconology and rhymes to explore concepts surrounding zoonoses (animal diseases that can infect humans) and how we perceive certain animals in the context of fear and disease.
Speaking about her work, Nicola said, “These works use fairy tales, myths and rhymes as a metaphor to discuss zoonotic outbreaks in a non-threatening and restrained manner. I have carefully studied animal specimens in museum collections and applied them to archival and current newspaper stories of zoonotic diseases that have had devastating effects on human life.”
The ZOONOSES exhibition stems from Nicola’s doctoral research and provides insightful observations into our contradictory perceptions of animals in relation to fear of disease.
Nicola says she aims to generate greater understanding of the natural world through her artwork.
She explained, “It is interesting how we humans both despise animals for their role in spreading disease across species, yet also revere them as they provide us with the means of vaccination through scientific testing and discovery.”
Logan Art Gallery and Logan City Council, who are presenting ZOONOSES in partnership with Museums & Galleries Queensland, said that they are delighted to tour this exciting and topical exhibition by Logan-based artist Dr Nicola Hooper.
Museums & Galleries Queensland’s Executive Director, Rebekah Butler said, “Visitors to this exhibition will be drawn into its complex subject matter through its seductive Victorian Gothic Revival era aesthetics and familiar content: Victorian-inspired wallpapers, exquisitely rendered natural history lithographs, artist books, fairy tales and large-scale sculptural creatures.”
ZOONOSES will be displayed at Bayside Gallery from 2 September to 5 November, as a part of its national tour to regional and metropolitan centres in Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
