Nicola Farquhar: L.oen.nium

Nicola Farquhar is interested in the construction of interior and exterior worlds, approaching painting as a tool for imagining regeneration in a time of ecological crisis.

Drawing on the invented languages of science fiction and the taxonomy of plants and animals, the exhibition title 'L.oen.nium' encourages speculation around a group of new and modified works.   

Farquhar has developed a distinctive painterly language that explores metabolic or reproductive processes — human and non-human. She often makes use of ambiguous compositional “frames” that might be cells, wombs, food baskets, archeological relics or, indeed, universes. The works in L.oen.nium could be described as “pulpy”; the artist is particularly interested in abstractions of fruit, flowers, eggs, and organs — creating an environment inside the gallery that is lush and embryonic.


A sense of regeneration is also present in Farquhar’s approach to physical making, which often incorporates found and repurposed materials. Small sculptural objects made from painted wood rest atop, but are not attached to, the paintings, allowing the artist to reconfigure and repurpose them. Lumpy paper mache discs, made from collected discarded papers from the Farquhar’s home, disrupt the geometry of her stretched canvases. 


The exhibition continues Farquhar’s enquiry into the relationship between plants, humans and animals within storytelling. Her works respond to the personification of feelings or ideas within gothic and folk stories, and the work of women science fiction authors who push against normative bodies, genders and ways of understanding the world.


L.oen.nium is accompanied by a newly commissioned text by Ash Davida Jane, to be released during the exhibition. It is also a companion to Farquhar’s concurrent solo exhibition Enthripadar at Ōtautahi artist-run space Paludal. Whereas Enthripadar imagines Paludal’s gallery space as a “lightbox” full of insect-like paintings, L.oen.nium approaches CoCA’s Ō Papa gallery as a “mothership” filled with curious specimens.

  

Written response to L.oen.nium 

fruiting 
After Nicola Farquhar

by Ash Davida Jane

 

The Artist

  • Nicola Farquhar
    Nicola Farquhar
    Ōtautahi

    Nicola Farquhar is an Ōtautahi-based artist. Recent exhibitions include Heavy trees, arms and legs, developed by The Physics Room in collaboration with Coastal Signs and the Suter Art Gallery; Listening, Twitching, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery; A Holotype Heart, Hopkinson Mossman; and Necessary Distraction: A painting show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

     

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Nicola Farquhar
Ōtautahi

Nicola Farquhar is an Ōtautahi-based artist. Recent exhibitions include Heavy trees, arms and legs, developed by The Physics Room in collaboration with Coastal Signs and the Suter Art Gallery; Listening, Twitching, Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery; A Holotype Heart, Hopkinson Mossman; and Necessary Distraction: A painting show, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

 

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L.oen.nium - Installation View. Image Credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Image Credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View, Nicola Farquhar
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L.oen.nium - Installation View. Image Credit John Collie

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall diemnsions: 620 x 1070mm. Photo credit John Collie

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall diemnsions: 620 x 1070mm. Photo credit John Collie

Flower, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall diemnsions: 620 x 1070mm. Photo credit John Collie

 

 

Left to right:CeCe, 2021Circle, 2022Cait, 2022 Photo credit John Collie

Left to right:
CeCe, 2021
Circle, 2022
Cait, 2022

Photo credit John Collie

CeCe, Circle, Cait - Installation view, Nicola Farquhar
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Left to right:
CeCe, 2021
Circle, 2022
Cait, 2022


Photo credit John Collie

Eirth, 2022 and Ifinity, 2022. Image Credit John Collie

Eirth, 2022 and Ifinity, 2022. Image Credit John Collie

Eirth and Ifinity - L.oen.nium Installation view, Nicola Farquhar
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Eirth, 2022 and Ifinity, 2022. Image Credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation view, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

Trees, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with canvas attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

Trees, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with canvas attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

Trees, Nicola Farquhar
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Trees, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with canvas attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

Left to right Bow & Arrow 1, Bow & Arrow 2, Bow and Arrow 3. All 2022, acrylic on linen and canvas. 500 x 550mm. Photo credit John Collie

Left to right Bow & Arrow 1, Bow & Arrow 2, Bow and Arrow 3. All 2022, acrylic on linen and canvas. 500 x 550mm. Photo credit John Collie

Bow & Arrow, 1, 2 and 3, Nicola Farquhar
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Left to right Bow & Arrow 1, Bow & Arrow 2, Bow and Arrow 3.  All 2022, acrylic on linen and canvas. 500 x 550mm. Photo credit John Collie

Fei, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 700 x 1200mm. Photo credit John Collie

Fei, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 700 x 1200mm. Photo credit John Collie

Fei, Nicola Farquhar
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Fei, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 700 x 1200mm. Photo credit John Collie

Flower x 3, 2022, Installation view. Photo credit John Collie

Flower x 3, 2022, Installation view. Photo credit John Collie

Flower x 3 - Installation view, Nicola Farquhar
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Flower x 3, 2022, Installation view. Photo credit John Collie

Birds, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen. 1300 x 1500mm. Photo credit John Collie

Birds, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen. 1300 x 1500mm. Photo credit John Collie

Birds, Nicola Farquhar
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Birds, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen. 1300 x 1500mm. Photo credit John Collie

Ifinity, 2022, pastel, scrylic and oil on linen. 800 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

Ifinity, 2022, pastel, scrylic and oil on linen. 800 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

Ifinity, Nicola Farquhar
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Ifinity, 2022, pastel, scrylic and oil on linen. 800 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

Eirth, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with card attachment. 700 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

Eirth, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with card attachment. 700 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

Eirth, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Eirth, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with card attachment. 700 x 900mm. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo Credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo Credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo Credit John Collie

CeCe, 2021, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 500 x 500mm. Photo credit John Collie

CeCe, 2021, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 500 x 500mm. Photo credit John Collie

CeCe, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

CeCe, 2021, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 500 x 500mm. Photo credit John Collie

Cait, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

Cait, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

Cait, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Cait, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen with paperclay attachment. 560 x 700mm. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

L.oen.nium - Installation view, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

L.oen.nium - Installation View. Photo credit John Collie

Osisp, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 600 x 700mm. Photo Credit John Collie

Osisp, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 600 x 700mm. Photo Credit John Collie

Osisp, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Osisp, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas. 600 x 700mm. Photo Credit John Collie

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall dimensions: 670 x 1100mm. Photo credit John Collie

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall dimensions: 670 x 1100mm. Photo credit John Collie

Flower, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Flower, 2022, acrylic and oil on linen and canvas with paper mache attachment. Overall dimensions: 670 x 1100mm.  Photo credit John Collie

Beach, 2022, acrylic and enamel on glass. 600 x 840 mm. Photo credit John Collie

Beach, 2022, acrylic and enamel on glass. 600 x 840 mm. Photo credit John Collie

Beach, Nicola Farquhar
More about this artwork

Beach, 2022, acrylic and enamel on glass. 600 x 840 mm. Photo credit John Collie