ZOONOSES

Through drawing and lithography, Nicola Hooper uses fairy-tale iconology and rhymes to explore concepts surrounding zoonoses (animal diseases that can infect humans). The exhibition ZOONOSES explores how we perceive certain animals in the context of fear and disease.

Nicola is a Logan-based artist with a background in design and illustration. Lithography and drawing became integral to her studio practice whilst she completed a MAVA and MAVA (Hons) at Queensland College of Art in Brisbane. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate and was awarded a GU Postgraduate Research Scholarship to undertake her doctoral studies.

Nicola has undertaken a number of residencies; her most recent at the Tanks Arts Centre, Cairns, under the watchful eye of master printer, Theo Tremblay. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is held in public and private collections.

ZOONOSES includes artworks created in January 2019 during a studio stay at Black Church Print Studio in Dublin, while Nicola researched the Celtic myth ‘Concerning Cats’ by Lady Francesca Wilde in her book Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland 1887. Nicola re-tells this story, making associations to the zoonosis ‘Toxoplasmosis’. The works are all created using hand coloured stone lithography including an artist book, prints, wallpaper and a mobile.

This exhibition lends itself to unique public program opportunities, including a visually spectacular, collaborative wallpaper program for children; ‘construct a fly’ workshops; children’s animation workshop undertaken by Dr Zeynep Akcay; polyester plate lithography workshop for children or adults; artist talks; art/science panel discussion opportunities; and storytelling.