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- 2025 Sydney Contemporary | Anie Nheu
Mixed media paintings of works on paper 2025 Sydney Contemporary Works on Paper The wheels were in motion long before this , 2025. Mixed media on cold press Arches paper 300gsm 76x168cm Drawing remains a constant in my practice. It guides and fleshes out the process from imagination to exploration. I’ve long been drawn to the visual language of the intangible and the unknown. Returning to works on paper this year came with its own set of challenges. The last significant body of work on paper was produced in 2023 for Sydney Contemporary. In 2024, I shifted to working with materials that carry visual weight, where the act of making depended on activating their inherent materiality as a compositional tool. The current work is no different—only the scale has shifted, down to the molecular level. Round about , 2025. Mixed media on cold press Arches paper 300 gsm 56c76cm This time, the focus turned to the interaction between mixed media—graphite, charcoal, watercolour primer, pigment, watercolour, gouache, and water-based crayon—and the surface of the paper. What sets this apart is the role of mark-making: its intention becomes central in orchestrating the composition. Despite the shift in materials, the exploration of spatial relationships continues to serve as a unifying thread. The works investigate spatial relationships and the coexistence of disparity and dissonance. Like many, I’ve felt the turbulence of recent years—a time of unrest and suffering, amplified by the ubiquitous reach of technology, where parallel lives feel both tangible and surreal. Alongside this, a pervasive sense of helplessness lingers, leaving us suspended in a situation without clear beginning or end. These themes reverberate throughout the works, with the titles offering insight into these abstract reflections. This body of work began as an artist’s book—an exploration of a shared world. Each page features a distinct abstract composition, resolved with specific intent. Some pages are cut horizontally at random points; others are folded vertically. As the book is leafed through, new compositions emerge through the juxtaposition of adjacent images. These visual collisions, combining the intentional with the non-intentional, give rise to new compositions. The element of the unknown sustains my curiosity in this process. There are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ compositions, only more compositions to work with. Some have been reimagined as paintings on Arches paper. The phrase that surfaces in my consciousness is 'parallel collisions'. Swell, 2025. Mixed media on cold press Arches paper 300 gsm 56c76cm 1/21 Parallel collisions [proof of concept for artist's book] , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm Dance of chance with infinity , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm Blue liner , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm Parallel collisions , 2025. Mixed media on cold press Arches paper 300 gsm 76x56cm The colouring pencils , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm Soft tissue , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm
- Anie Nheu, Australian Artist
Material Thinking & Art Making on the borrowed land of the Gadigal Wangal clans, the Eora people [Australia]. A visual documentation of art exhibitions featuring paintings, mixed media works on paper, and installation pieces. Installation view of Byproducts 2024
- info | Anie Nheu
Information on the artist with artist statement, biography, CV, history of exhibitions, awards, projects, and trainings. Anie is an Australian artist based in the Gadigal land of the Eora people [Sydney, Australia] whose practice primarily focuses on the use of materials, with their intrinsic properties woven into the narratives of her work. These narratives explore the human body and its sensory processes, delving into how we interpret and make sense of our experiences. Often, metaphors reflecting the emotional effects of engagement, disengagement, and re-engagement are embedded in the spatial arrangements and materials used. Broadly, her narratives are drawn from periods of temporal settlement in various cultures during formative years. The spatial arrangements, shapes, borders, and surfaces are essential in the creation of the imagery. Anie has also had the opportunity to collaborate with a range of artists, which has allowed her to interpret and respond to works beyond her practice, deepening her understanding of her art. Selected Exhibitions, Projects, Awards 2025 Paper Contemp orary, Sydney Contemporary , Carriage Works, Newtown 2024 Byproducts , SLOTprojects, Alexandria Flotsam jetsam, SLOTwindow, Alexandria 2023 Paper Contemp orary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works, Newtown SLOT20, Delmar Gallery, Ashfield Passing Through , Slot, Alexandria 2019 Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works, Newtown Group Print Show, Factory49, Marrickville Paean , Slot, Alexandria A silver voice from the corner, 2018 2018 Feeling Bodies , The Waiting Room, Sydney Hospital Constellation In the Cranny (solo), AIRspace Projects, Marrickville Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works, Newtown Waverley Art Prize, Highly Commended (Mixed Media Category) 2017 On Paper (solo), Factory49, Marrickville Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works, Newtown 2016 Forms on Edge (solo), AirSpace Projects, Marrickville Youkobo Art Space a Tokyo Residency Open Sttudio Liquid, Paper and the Space in Between 2015 The elephant in the room , Slot, Redfern Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary, Carriage Works, Newtown Openings [a group painting exhibition], AirSpace Projects, Marrickville 2014 Intimate Worlds [a group painting exhibition], AirSpace Projects, Marrickville 2012 Several Ways of Conversations (collaborative drawing exhibition as 3ppod), Shihan Gallery, Seoul, South Korea Remarking | Remaking , Blacktown Art Centre, Sydney Yarns between Bubbles (collaborative drawing as 3ppod ), Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney 2010 Bodies in Sustained Emotions. galleryeight, Sydney 2008 At the Periphery of Space. Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney 2007 My Story (group) Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing 2006 Tim Olsen Drawing Prize Kudos Gallery (Commended) 2004 Out On a Limb (group) Bathurst Regional Art Gallery 2003 Stitched, Naked (solo) 4A Gallery Hazelhurst Art Award: Art on Paper (Finalist) Training 2004-2007 MFA (Distinction) College of Fine Arts, UNSW 2004 Australian Postgraduate Award scholarship 1994-1997 BFA (Honours Degree, Class 1) College of Fine Arts, UNSW Professional Developments 2014-current Assists with projects at SLOT 2024-current Assists with projects at UPSpace Gallery 2017-2018 Committee member of AIRSpace Projects 2016 Artist Residency, Youkobo Artspace 2007 International Drawing Research Institute Symposium, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
- projects | Anie Nheu
Links or index to the selected exhibitions and projects. Selected Exhibitions Sydney Contemporary 2025 Byproducts 2024 Flotsam jetsam 2024 constellation in the cranny 2018 ON PAPER the elephant in the room paper contemporary 2023 paean Playbox Passing Through 2022 paper contemporary 2019 forms on edge Several ways of conversations
- contact | Anie Nheu
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- 2016 Forms on Edge | Anie Nheu
An exhibition of abstract geometric painting on shaped marine ply. Forms on Edge AIRSpace Project 05-20 August 2016 One of the ideas that sustains Nheu’s visual exploration is the relationships the body forms in the space it inhabits. ‘Relationships’ encapsulates the experiences of a body in a myriad of affect and effects, both tangible and intangible. The background narrative is told through the female body of a perpetual migrant with a culture of birth that is predominantly patriarchal. Resettlement and adaptation brought changes in traditionally assigned roles. Negotiations for place and roles in the new community at large, and at a micro level within the family unit, were acutely felt. These ideas form the basis of the visual framework for the exhibition. Visually, the placement of paintings in an enclosed space becomes the metaphor in the process of resettlement. Like fields with no borders, encapsulated experiences are by nature inter-corporeal; identity is socially constructed and defined by borders and forms. The exhibition as a whole attempts to amass these two seemingly contradictory elements and dwell at its meeting points hedging edges to redefine place and space. The paintings are in effect formed by these edges where space and borders meet. The space the paintings inhabit plays an integral role in the composition of the exhibition. It is used literally in the context of the negotiation of space. Paintings are made with implied sustained emotions that define these ‘bodies’. The visual cues for these are surface treatments, shapes, quality of the edges where two spaces meet, and ultimately, how they claim the space they inhabit. Photographed by Joy Lai & John Dennis
- 2019 Paean | Anie Nheu
A work of installation of mixed materials: plastic serving plate painted in gold colour, abstract geometric painting on 3 panels of hessian used for coffee beans exports, and an Ikea child chair in white. Paean Installation with painting on hessian, plastic serving plate, Ikea chair SLOT 28.04.2019 - 01.16.2019 Like many artists, Anie Nheu sees her life reflected in her art. She feels that because her life went one way rather than another her art has permission to go that way as well. As this idea of representation grows it becomes an exercise in mapping that can chart life across generations. It can stretch to accommodate ancestors and locate the artist with in a pantheon of concerns that artists will often describe as their way of making sense of the world. Anie was born on the road, as she said “moving from place to place with my parents since the civil war in East Timor”. To live a life, as she sees it, in 3 parts, now drawn into a “harmonious whole”. This is the map she has given us. Sketched out on 3 hessian bags stitched together with twine and Anie’s painting that has settled across the surface in a way that does not obscure the origin of her bags - bags,metaphorically that she has lumped since her days in East Timor as an infant. Of course the work is a painting, symbolic of nothing more or less than itself. It gracefully observes the conventions of abstraction and achieves a beauty that is new to the hessian sacks. But Anie has included some jarring elements. The work is improbably placed on the wall, as if she were to continue working on it rather than display it for our considerationThere is a chair, arbitrarily placed that seems to contradict our preconceptions of scale. And far off to the side is a golden oval that might be something venerated. The painting that is a map has been given its own space; its own set of preconditions that is different to ours. It is somewhere else. Tony Twigg
- 2017 On Paper | Anie Nheu
An exhibition of works on paper boards at Factory49, Marrickville. The project explores the interrelationship between the occupied and negative space using abstract geometric imageries, focusing on shapes and edges. On Paper Factory49 5.10.2017 - 28.10.2017 On Paper, is a small body of work planned for the Project Space for Factory49. These works continue the artist's interest in developing her visual language in bringing the invisible into the physical realm. The installation focuses on what is presented, and what is perceived, and how the two negotiate their coexistence in our day to day lived experiences. Visually, this is suggested through the feel of the body. This manifests in rendered, evocative forms and their distinct way of inhabiting their assigned space. Surfaces of these works serve as a metaphor for the site of exchange, where the body is simultaneously an active agent and a receptor of external influences. These intermeshed connections are drawn onto the surface with considered mark-making using various media. In the confines of this small space, the forms are arranged to frame the ‘connections’ they have with one another. The space created is intimate and subtly surreal, touching off a sense of wonder and imaginary dialogues that are at once universal and personal. The title, On Paper, relates literally to the use of paper as the material support for these works. At another level, this expression is used here in its usual sense: in theory, in writing, figured at face value. In day-to-day operations, what is on paper is constantly being negotiated with our inner perceptions: our understanding of what is perceived may not be the very understanding that props the spectre of what is perceived. Photographed by Joy Lai & John Dennis
- 2015 The Elephant in the Room | Anie Nheu
An installation of abstract geometric paintings on shaped marine plywood, exhibited in SLOT’s window space. The work explores the notion of an obvious presence—something visually assertive yet deliberately overlooked to maintain the status quo or preserve a sense of equanimity. The Elephant in the Room Acrylic on marine plywood, soft plastic 355x220x90 cm SLOT 20.12.2015 - 20.01.2016 Anie Nheu’s art is about space. Most literally in this piece, it is the space between 2 pictures. This is the gallery exhibit almost always overlooked, the artefact essential to all museums, it’s the place where something isn’t, as Anie Nheu describes it, the Elephant in the room. In this piece, the gallery-like space around the work has been artfully “sculptured” into a form of equal importance to the objects that make up the exhibit. And it is the art of a dance. A painted colour doesn’t cover an entire surface; it leaves a colour behind that pushes the form back while correspondingly the wall pushes forward. At another moment holes cut in the work offer lagoons of white wall while offshore two islands of colour seem to have been deposited, “Spratley like”. This picture is not presented on a wall, it’s colonising the wall. Gently underlining the fact that it has taken ownership of the space. Gracefully wrapping around a corner in the wall and quietly stepping off the wall onto the floor this work has arrived in our space, subtly merging with our space as we observe its elegant form. In her notes on the piece, Anie Nheu describes her work as “identity formation” a process where the obvious can go unsaid. Here among the morphing relationships of her forms she reads the emotive content of the work that replicates her life as a migrant. Travelling with her parents from Taiwan through the 3rd world to Australia what might have been a firm foundation for most of us was fluid for Anie. Things have never been just one thing for Anie. And if we think for a moment few things are ever just one thing. This elegantly restrained work approaches the edges of most art and fearlessly steps across them. With out hesitation it side steps the self-serving clatter or transactional enterprise and in its place offers us poetry reflection and silences that otherwise would remain unseen, the elephant in the room, perhaps. ctre of what is perceived. Tony Twigg
- 2018 Constellation in the Cranny | Anie Nheu
This body of work is an extension of the previous exploration of the solo exhibition, Forms on Edge at AIRspace Projects in 2016. The edges, forms and placements in space were the primary vehicle in image making and in assembling emotive narratives. For this exhibition, the change of material from plywood to paper clay introduces the sense of touch as the predominant form of expression in their making. Constellation in the Cranny AIRSpace Project 2.11.2018 - 16.11.2018 This body of work is an extension of the previous exploration of the solo exhibition, Forms on Edge at AIRspace Projects in 2016. The edges, forms and placements in space were the primary vehicle in image making and in assembling emotive narratives. For this exhibition, the change of material from plywood to paper clay introduces the sense of touch as the predominant form of expression in their making. The touch brought its metaphor into the visual realm. The reflexive nature of touch adds the reading of cause and effect in the constellation of these forms, creating a dynamic simultaneous back-and-forth feel, while the spatial considerations and placements integrate the negative space into the whole. This project aims to 'make sense' embodying the invisible and the affects of body memory and its processes. + These works remain experimental in their making. Air-dried paper clay has been widely used for intricate sculpture and craftwork, it is less common in its use as a painting support. The material introduces the fragile characteristic, dictating their process and handling. This in turn encapsulates the energy and care in their making, which ultimately lends the forms their intrinsic characteristics and identity. Photographed by Joy Lai & John Dennis ^
- 2023 Sydney Contemporary | Anie Nheu
A record of works on paper submitted for Paper Contemporary, Sydney Contemporary 2023 2023 Paper Contemporary a Sydney Contemporary event
- 2022 Passing Through | Anie Nheu
An installation of a charcoal drawing of 2 old trees by a river bank framed in gold coloured bamboo moulding with a lopped tree branch at SLOT's window space. Passing through Installation with charcoal drawing and lopped tree branch SLOT 23.10.2022 - 26.11.2022 Anie Nheu’s piece Passing Through is both an appreciation of nature and a consideration of the appreciation of nature in art. It began during a holiday on a farm at East Gresford beside Allyn River in the upper Hunter. Anie was struck by the beauty of thelandscape and the trees she saw. So much so that she began drawing them, on this occasion a casuarina on the left and a eucalypt on the right. Back in her Sydney studio and faced with the proposition of making something out of her time away for SLOT, Anie focused on her drawing.In a pile of some-one-else’s thrown-out junk she noticed an exquisite Art Nouveau frame, a style that celebrated organic form, in particular trees. It seems to have set the tone of Anie’s piece. Lovingly restored it embellishes the rawness of the Australian bush with an orientalist elegance. Like a giant piece of ikebana, a tree branch cut and re-assembled for the window space offers a counterpoint to the stylised representation of bamboo that frames Anie’s drawing of native trees - incidentally it is drawn in charcoal, the burnt fragments of trees, and is pointing out that the paper is pulped and processed timber taking the metaphor too far? Standing looking at the finished work I found myself thinking how many ways can you say tree in art? Anie commented that she saw it as commodification. She felt that the process of art is to make a commodity out of an experience. In this case the revelry found in nature. Sure, it’s not such a big thing, but in the hands of an artist it becomes that. Tony Twigg