Prop Shop

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Neon Parc, Melbourne

(1) Beezhorn, 2022, foam, wax based modelling clay, adhesives, clay, plaster, papier mâché
157.5 x 28 x 81 cm

(2) Fortune Nights, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, foam, powdered pigments, glass ball, spray paint
42 x 37.5 x 14 cm

(3) The Athlete Wins Again, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, spray paint, gloss varnish
72.5 x 21 x 27 cm

(4) The Builder's Hunt, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, mouldable plastic, spray paint, acrylic lacquer 53 x 25 x 34 cm

(5) Closing Ceremony, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, acrylic lacquer, acrylic paint, spray paint, foam, clay, plaster, papier mâché, gloss varnish
89 x 54 x 41 cm

(6) Venom, 2022, wood, glass, epoxy modelling compound, mouldable plastic, rubber, spray paint, acrylic lacquer
53 x 43 x 22 cm

(8) Glut Cherry, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, mouldable plastic, polyurethane pigments, clay, plaster, papier mâché, acrylic paint, Australian walnuts, perspex, cardboard
170 x 58 x 50 cm

(7) Spider Mistress and her Eggs, 2022, wood, foam, mouldable plastic, epoxy modelling compound, acrylic lacquer, wax seal spider stamp
71 x 26 x 24 cm

(9) Twin Caterers, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, polyurethane pigments, spray paint, acrylic paint
53 x 43 x 22 cm

(10) Treasuredome, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, powdered pigments, pyrite, spray paint, necklace, beads 63 x 27.5 x 21 cm

(11) The Elves of Whistletown, 2022, wood, foam, epoxy modelling compound, spray paint, acrylic sheeting, foam mannequin heads, castors
200 x 120 x 26 cm

(12) Academy, 2022, Welded hot rolled steel, MDF, clay, plaster, papier mâché, adhesives, acrylic paint
154 x 47 x 88 cm

(14) Ballroom, 2022, wood, foam, epoxy modelling compound, wire, acrylic lacquer, powdered pigments
201 x 74 x 72 cm

(13) Bread Prison, 2022, flour, water, salt, wood, epoxy modelling compound, polyurethane pigments, epoxy glass resin
194 x 82 x 130 cm

(16) Blockhorn, 2022, epoxy modelling compound, foam, spray paint, acrylic paint
141 x 40 x 41 cm

(15) The Tie and the Undercoat, 2022, wood, mouldable plastic, epoxy modelling compound, spray paint, walking stick
123 x 45 x 36 cm

(18) Fortune Nights, 2022, wood, epoxy modelling compound, foam, powdered pigments, glass, spray paint, Australian walnuts, perspex, cardboard
152 x 58 x 50cm

(17) Horror Show, 2022, wood, timber stain, epoxy modelling compound, spray paint, curly doll's hair, screws
245.5 x 49 x 26 cm

(20) Creamed Angel, 2022, wood, rope, cement, sand, oxides, epoxy resin, spray paint, paper pulp, construction adhesive, polyurethane sealant
126 x 57 x 49 cm

(19) Molten Slayer, 2022, wood, foam, canvas, epoxy modelling compound, spray paint
339 x 129 x 96 cm

Exhibition Statement

June 25-
July 23 2022

Neon Parc is pleased to present Prop Shop, the first major solo exhibition at Neon Parc by Singaporean-Australian sculptor Nabilah Nordin.

Nordin’s distinctive practice utilises non-traditional sculptural materials to create beguiling and playful forms, expressing conscious naiveté and unorthodox sensibilities. Her work over the last seven years explores the possibilities of material invention, with installations that embrace the anthropomorphic qualities of sculptural materials, as well as community engaged performative practices.

She describes her constantly growing sculptural language as striving for the “slimy, slopping, seeping, slippery seduction of sensuous surfaces.” Her animated forms seem to “topple and collapse upon themselves in a nonsensical cacophony of attempts to make sculpture.” Gestural and loose, her works are oozing, dripping and roughly textured, often combined with bold, coloured pigments.

For Prop Shop at Neon Parc Brunswick, Nordin will present her most ambitious solo exhibition to date. With 8 clusters of large-scale sculptures presented on bespoke staging devices, Nordin’s distinctive sculptural vocabulary expands, incorporating new materials and processes to create some of the largest works ever produced.

The exhibition Prop Shop loosely references a film prop department, where various objects are stored and catalogued for future productions. In this exploration of staging and presentation, Nordin brings together gestural hand-made objects with refined and fabricated elements, referencing mobile systems, logistics, ingredients, storage units and inventories.

In one cluster, a ‘plinth’ takes the form of a fabricated airline bar-cart, yet it is entirely transparent, with the interior filled with clumsy gum-balls. In another work, home-cooked, resin-coated breadsticks are stacked to form haphazard scaffolding. Trapped inside this bread-prison is a sleek, geometric sculpture. Beside this is a vertical monolith storage-box: a “vocabulary pantry”, housing sculptural components for other “props”.

In each case, Nordin embraces the spirit of materiality, where sculptures engage in a type of delegated performance: backstage and front-stage merge into an unfamiliar cluster of fragments, associations and narratives.