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

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

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

(6) 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

(5) 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

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

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

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

(11) 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

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

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

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

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

Exhibition Statement

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.

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