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- info | Anie Nheu
Information on the artist with artist statement, biography, CV, history of exhibitions, awards, projects, and trainings. Anie Nheu is an Australian artist working in Sydney on the unceded lands of the Gadigal and Wangal people of the Eora Nation. Materials, their transitional qualities, and the relational spaces they occupy are central to Nheu's practice. Working with manufacturing by-products and materials from the natural environment, she draws out histories of function, labour, consumption, and exchange — histories that become ideas and visual metaphors within the work. Treating materials as active participants, she engages their intrinsic and incidental qualities with assemblages , drawing relations through disparity. The installations use rudimentary fastening and joining methods. Setting against contemporary manufactured materials, they highlight the distinct forms of embodied knowledge and technological production. Observation and making are her modes of inquiry, through which experience is examined and understood. This process of working-through — a 'revision' — sees materials, relationships, and ideas continually gauged and reconfigured to generate new knowledge. Selected Exhibitions, Projects, Awards 2026 Byproducts II , Platform, Canberra Contemporary, Manuka ACT 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 2024-2026 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
- 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. Prop, 2026. Bamboo and eucalyptus and white cedar branches, hessian strings, plaster, basalt shale and ropes. 175x420x300cm. Image by Tina FiveAsh
- contact | Anie Nheu
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- 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
- 2014 Playbox | Anie Nheu
Collaborative project by Anie Nheu and Jan Fieldsend exploring emotions conveyed by the elements used in their assemblages of forms, objects and textures; and almost all works take the form of imaginary bodies with memories. Playbox a collaboration with Jan FieldsendInstallation of paintings, collage of found materials AIRSpace Project 1.8.2014-16.8.2014 The project arose to some extent in an impromptu fashion. This in effect characterises the nature of the work, and hence the title, Playbox. Both artists are drawn to the emotional content conveyed by the elements used in their assemblages of forms, objects and textures; and almost all works take the form of imaginary bodies with memories. In the act of attempting to put two distinct practices into one space, conversations arose not only about formal and spatial concerns but also about poly-culturalism and the ensuing flux that is within each individual, and of course in the wider world. Negotiation of space/place and the making of sense requires a great deal of imagination and an ability to accept really odd things being together. Odd, not in a pejorative sense but perhaps more evoking a gentle poignancy of things not being even, of unsettledness or even as an antidote to standardisation. In his respect it may be apt to observe that Nheu is more interested in eroded painted forms and how they inhabit the space assigned to them, and Fieldsend in the productive alliances of decoration, inimalism, hard-core nostalgia and nature. In this collaborative project with Fieldsend, Nheu was drawn to the thoughts of Mono-ha, a school of art in Japan active between 1968 and 1973, as a way to relate and understand Fieldsend's installations. Loosely translated as 'school of things', Mono-ha art is experienced as multi-sensorial. It uses ordinary objects such as rocks, steel, sticks and cotton with as little human intervention as possible, and often is ephemeral in nature. The focus is on the 'the things’ themselves and their interdependence through juxtaposition and placement.The elements are stripped of their obvious identity and then through the working process particular sensory qualities are amplified. Nheu has attempted to draw on these ideas to create abstract tactile forms made with painted plywood and moulded acrylic paint. In some instances these materials are used as themselves with their intrinsic characteristics laid bare, but often as much stand in as rich shadowy bodies, or perversely doubling as cavities. Anie Nheu, Jan Fieldsend 2014
- 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 Arches Huile 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 Arches Huile 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 Arches Huile 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 Arches Huile 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 Our material cunnings , 2025. Mixed media on Fabriano torchon 270gsm 29.5x42cm Soup of signs , 2025. Mixed media on paper, 38x56cm No beginning , no end , 2025. Mixed media on Arches Huile 300gsm, 57x70.5cm
- 2024 Byproducts | Anie Nheu
An exhibition of engagement with materials through responding, making and assembling- a way of making sense of experience. Byproducts This body of work showcases a collaboration with materials. This collaboration generally occurred at two levels: the selection of materials whose lives originated for a different purpose, and the artist’s response to their inherent properties. They in turn are informed by a narrative of migration and its intergenerational effects. The plywood offcuts are remnants from previous projects, readapted into new work. Forms shaped by plasters and pumice intimate the byproducts of forced displacement and increased disorder. Cardboard boxes, an ambivalent material, are perceived as a symbol of a system designed to generate profit from cheap labour; here they suggest two readings, one is the drive of aspiration for a better life, and the other is a homage to those who delivered a better life to the coming generation. Working with these materials also demanded a response to the incidentals of their unexpected behaviour. Like gifting another vocabulary to a sentence, these incidentals pointed to the resolution of each work. The sense of these works, engendered through their materials and assemblage is at times contradictory, at others complimentary. It evokes senses of detachment and attachment, presence and absence, contact and separation, abandonment and reclamation, permanent and transient. Ultimately, the process of making is a way of engaging with the byproducts of displacements and emplacements. Working with the repurposed materials, and assigning them with a new identity, suggests a making good– reordering the disorder. Individual Works Installation View
- 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 ^
- 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
- 2019 Sydney Contemporary | Anie Nheu
A record of mixed media works on paper submitted for Sydney Contemporary 2019. 2019 Paper Contemporary a Sydney Contemporary event +
- 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
- 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