Red Dirt Road by Nikky Morgan-Smith

Nikky Morgan-Smith was born in Vanuatu in 1979.  She has been based in the North coast of NSW since 1983 and has participated in numerous group exhibitions and held a number of solo exhibitions in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and on the north coast of NSW.

Nikky’s work is motivated by how she interprets her world. The idea of 'chance' is also an integral part of the process and is employed as a way of articulating the incidental moments / experience of life.  The scope of her practice has been informed by many influences including time spent living in Melbourne, travelling in the USA and the Caribbean, particularly Cuba.  

Nikky has a deep connection to her own process by building up and breaking down, working intuitively at times and more formally at others. She leads us through thoughts, behaviour, memory and action with her instinctual gesture, assertive brush mark and playful image use. Nikky’s work holds together the elements of disorder in ways planned decisions cannot imitate. Her work has a steady integrity that is embodied in metaphors that carry her stories and observations of life.

Nicky has been a finalist in both the 2018 Marie Ellis Prize for Drawing, QCA Project Gallery, Brisbane & Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize, Lismore Regional Gallery.