In its last week, the exhibition Scripts, by Nabilah Nordin represents Neon Parc’s commitment to excellence in contemporary art and a new phase of innovation in Nordin’s career. Based in Los Angeles, Nordin has previously worked with wood sculpting and Scripts represents a new watermark in her contemporary sculptural practice. Her whimsical metal sculptures, layered with putty for their eye-catching colour, have a presence that evokes portraiture. They show Nordin has reached new heights of craft, as well as a unique, light and playful abstract sensibility.
Nordin trained in Melbourne at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) and RMIT university where she graduated in the last decade. She is a storied contemporary artist who has previously exhibited with the Heide Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of New South Wales as well as two Asian biennales and a previous show at Neon Parc.
Her work is intuitive and driven by a craftsperson-like approach to materials that allow her to express a range of feelings and impressions into elegant and confident interplays of line, texture and colour. The sculptures of Scripts are like standing portraits that evoke the individual character of people while at the same time remaining streamlined abstraction.
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For this reviewer, favourites include Interval, a welded steel work coated in putty and painted a bold yellow, as well as Veil, a curling navy evocation of elegant curves and shapes. As works of abstraction, these sculptures achieve a purity of line, colour and form that are transcendent. If you make time to see this exhibition in the heart of hipster Brunswick, you won’t be disappointed.
Nabilah Nordin: Scripts will be exhibited until 5 April 2025 at Neon Park, Brunswick, Melbourne.
