venerdì 28 settembre 2018

Interview with THEE ND (Nicole Duncan)


Hi Nicole,
Thank you for agreeing to this interview. The first question is pretty obvious: Why is your page called ‘Thee Nd’? Is it just a play on the pronunciation or is there a more profound meaning to it? Is it a reference to global pollution and its terrifying consequences or a more private matter?

The answer is yes to all of the above meanings, Maurizio, and including my initials into the mix. The genesis being having watched the completion of many films and there graphically would be my initials in capitals and I liked how it looked and sounded and meant in my head and have used THEE ND as my artist name since I started making art, and as time has progressed, it has become even more evident and to me that – yes -  it is now sadly a statement of the decline of our civilisation and our planet as we knew it .
                       

What is it that usually prompts you to take a picture and how important is the subsequent editing phase?

I am surrounded by beauty and precious moments. Things, scenes, happen spontaneously around me, I rely on chance, serendipity and opportunity. I take pleasure in capturing and creating the very beautiful and the inescapable through image though not always necessarily by intention, but as I have observed it is a consequence of many factors and some additional unexplainable force. Culminating in a photo collage or the basis for a design, or pure straight unadulterated photography.
                   
One of your favourite subjects is the forest raven. What is a ‘corvus tasmanicus’ to you? 

They are absolutely fascinating to me, though I cannot say I am the same to them ha! As they are very furtive and highly alert beautiful creatures, and resist any possible contact, and they are very aware and wary of me photographing them …these particular Raven's eyes have a bluish white sclera and you can see and feel their strong life force and intensity. I am very fortunate as I live very close to the edge, on a clifftop, at bird height, overlooking the sea, which has a very old gnarled casuarina tree which lurches out over the cliff and "my Ravens" thankfully continue to visit it …ever suspicious of close encounters, I must photograph them through my house's large windows, or I can capture them in flight during their travels, or photograph others roadside eating roadkill carrion of possums and wallabies …they seem to appear everywhere I go - even in the city !

Nature in all its forms (landscapes, animals, natural phenomena) seems to play a pivotal role in your art. Besides, these photos alternate with depictions of plants releasing gases in the air. Do you seek to raise awareness of what we could lose in the not-so-far future?

More-so statements ... I am glad if I do raise awareness about "The Great Decline". Nature and all that word encompasses is moment by moment threatened, and being irreversibly destroyed on all fronts, it is losing against Man's unstoppable disregard and insatiable greed ...I am pessimistic about any retrievable outcome or viable reversal of it.
  
Throughout the creative process, when do you know that you’re done with a photo and that what you’ve got is exactly what you wanted to obtain?

What is stimulating to me is the not knowing, light bulb moments, in being surprised, watching lucky "accidents" occur, - and for the feeling of knowing when an image is complete in itself. I wholeheartedly agree with the great Jean Cocteau that "Art is a marriage between the conscious and the unconscious."  
                 
I’ve noticed you also took pictures of the Pausiris mummy exhibition at the MONA. What is your relationship with your surroundings and your country and to what extent do you think place and local history and traditions influence the individual, both in a positive and a negative way?

Ah the wonderland masterpiece that is David Walsh's and architect Nonda Katsilidis’s xMONA+ ! - to which I am a frequent visitor and great admirer - and not just for the art exhibited there as xMONA+ is the product of combined personal vision artfully executed making its vibe extraordinary ....now Pausiris lies serenely sombre, secreted below in his chamber there, suspended in centuries of time and timelessness, it is a powerful exhibit ...and I visit the chamber to feel it ....
I really love Tasmania and I am very fortunate and appreciative of living here even though it has an extremely unpleasant early history during the British colonisation of it and their deliberate genocide and atrocious treatment of the original inhabitants ...to me there is no lingering pall, just a strong bridging connection with all past inhabitants particularly felt through experiencing the same topography, nature, seasons and skies.

Nowadays an enormous number of people are able to share their artistic output but making even little money out of it to pay the bills seems to be harder than ever, even for the professionals. Do you think governments should support and encourage noteworthy artists without connections?

Yes - and by doing so it also reinforces the value of Art.
        
Thanks again for your time.



THEE ND'S related links:


 
 

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