Catherine Nelson

1970 | Born Australia, Lives Belgium

Catherine Nelson is a photographic and photomedia artist whose fascinating practice has evolved from a degree in fine art from Sydney’s College of Fine Arts combined with subsequent film work in creating visual effects for films such as Moulin RougeHarry Potter and Baz Luhrmann’s Australia.

With years of experience in special effects, Nelson’s refocus on her own studio practice in 2008 has resulted in her developing compelling photo composite images and video works that broadly address ideas about ecology and the environment.

In 2012 Nelson was selected as the winner of the Gallery NOW Artist Award in Seoul, South Korea. In 2010 she was shortlisted for the Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award, also winning the Client Choice Award in the same prize. She has also been shortlisted for numerous photographic award exhibitions including the Bowness Prize at a leading Australian photography gallery, Monash Gallery of Art in Melbourne’s east. Her works have captured the attention of photography collectors worldwide with works in collections in Europe, Asia, USA and Australia.

AVAILABLE WORKS

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CV

CATHERINE NELSON

born Australia 1970, lives in Belgium

Education

1996     B. Fine Art, College of Fine Arts, Sydney

Solo Exhibitions

2021

Future Memories 2020, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2020

Future Memories 2020 (virtual exhibition), Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Future Memories 2020, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2018

Every NoThing, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2016

Submerged, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Submerged, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin

2014

Expedition, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Expedition, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2013

Other Worlds, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Other Worlds, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin

2012

Other Worlds, Gallery NOW, Seoul, South Korea

2011

Future Memories, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Future Memories, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Beijing, China

Future Memories, Domonik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, Australia

Future Memories, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Paris, France

2010

Creation, Australian Centre of Photography, Sydney

Group Exhibitions

2022

Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks, Sydney (upcoming)

Above the Canopy, Hawthorn Town Hall Gallery, Melbourne (upcoming)

Amazon//Amazon, curated by Ashleigh Jones, Michael Reid Gallery,
Sydney

Art and Gender, Justin Art House Museum, Prahran, Victoria

For the Love of Trees, Burrinja Gallery, Upwey, Victoria

Enlighten Festival, Projection on Parliament House, Canberra,
Australian Capital Territory

2021

Light Years, Basil Seller’s Exhibition Centre, Moruya, New South
Wales

Return to the Beginning, Horsham Regional Gallery, Horsham,
Victoria

Sydney Contemporary: EXPLORE, virtual exhibition

Re-Gathering, RACV Collection exhibition, Benalla Art Gallery,
Victoria

2020

Waterhouse Science Prize Finalist Exhibition, Adelaide

Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, New South Wales

Sydney Contemporary presents 2020, Gallerysmith, virtual
exhibition, Sydney

2019

Noorderlicht 30 Jaar, Groningen, The Netherlands

Lightyears 1999-2019, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

Lightyears 1999-2019, Perth Centre of Photography

2018

Waterhouse Science Prize (Finalist Exhibition), Adelaide, Australia

This Wild Song, Melbourne, Australia

Is It Real, Jeonju International Photo Festival, Jeonju, South
Korea

IN VIVO, Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Groningen, The
Netherlands

Natural/Unnatural, Kortrijk, Belgium

AQUA Miami, Rademakers Gallery

Wall Power: Contemporary Australian Photography, Michael Reid
Gallery, Berlin

2017

Hyper-Botanica, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2016

Divine Abstraction, JAHM, Melbourne

Aquatic Life , Monash Gallery Of Art, Melbourne

2015

Non Existing Reality, Jennifer Kostuik Gallery, Vancouver

Wall Power: Significant Australian Contemporary Photography,
Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney

2014

Human + Graphy, Ulsan International Photography Festival, Ulsan,
South Korea

Mandorla Prize, Finalist Exhibition, Perth

2013

Blake Prize, Director’s Cut, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Moreton Bay Art Awards, Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia

The Poetry of Earth is Never Dead, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

Capture Photography Festival, Vancouver, Canada

Australian Landscape : Present in the Now, Michael Reid Gallery,
Berlin

Digital Generation, Galerie Paris-Beijing, Brussels, Belgium

2012

Melbourne Art Fair, Gallerysmith, Royal Exhibition Building,
Melbourne, Australia

Heysen Prize for Interpretation of Place, Hahndorf Academy,
Hahndorf, SA

Murr-ma, Michael Reid Gallery, Berlin, Germany

Terra Cognita, Noorderlicht Photography Festival, Groningen,
Netherlands

Space Oddity, S Cube Gallery, California, USA

South of the Border, Queensland Centre of Photography, Brisbane

Flipside; Australian Photography, Project A7, Sarah Lee Artworks
& Projects, LA, USA

Out of the Darkness, Gallerysmith, Melbourne

2011

Hyper Realistic, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney

Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award Exhibition, Sydney,
Australia

Bowness Photographic Award, Monash Gallery of Art

Art Paris 2011, with Galerie Paris-Beijing

Magic Spaces, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

Plus One, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2010

Lake, Lake Macquarie Regional Gallery, Australia

Royal Bank of Scotland, Emerging Artist Award, Australia

Blake Prize Director’s Cut, Sydney, Australia

2009

Future Artist, Nikon Next online exhibition, Japan

Awards / Commissions

2021

Commission, Silky Oaks Lodge, Daintree National Park, Queensland, Australia

2014

Finalist, Mandorla Prize, Finalist Exhibition, Perth

2013

Photographer of the Year, AX3 Awards, USA (global shortlist)

Finalist, Moreton Bay Art Awards, Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia

2012

Winner, Gallery NOW Artist Award, Seoul, South Korea

2011

Winner, Eclectica 2011, Frensham Fellowship Art Prize, Mittagong, Australia

Finalist, Bowness Photography Prize, Monash Gallery of Art, Melbourne

Finalist, Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Award, Sydney, Australia

2010

Winner, Royal Bank of Scotland Emerging Artist Client Choice Award

RBS Emerging Artist Award (finalist)

Selected Publications / Press

2021

Mur, Jorge, “Otros Mundos (English: Other Worlds)”, Culturamas,
March 12, 2021

2020

Ebert, Grace, “Hundreds of Collaged Photographs Form Rich Botanical Worlds”,
Colossal
, August 21, 2020

Foster, Alasdair, “Catherine Nelson: Distilling the Essence of Landscape”, Talking
Pictures
, September 5, 2020

Fishman, Susan Hoffman, “Water Worlds”, Artists & Climate Change,
article for the Imagining Water Series, October 26, 2020

Arnold, Amanda, “Catherine Nelson’s Digital Collages Celebrate
Nature”, Professional Photographer, December 2020 issue

2016

Swann, Dee, “Hundreds of Photographs create ‘Other Worlds’”, The
Washington Post
, August 11,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/08/11/hundreds-of-photographs-create-other-worlds/

Mallonee, Laura, “The Magical Underwater World You’ve Never Seen – And Never
Will”, WIRED, July 14,
https://www.wired.com/2016/07/1000-photo-elaborate-underwater-shot/

2015

Interview with James Valentine, The Mix, ABC24, Feb 1, Sydney

“Distilling the Essence of Landscape”, Photoworld, Beijing,
pp167-177

Mechademia (cover), Volume 10, published by the University of
Minnesota, USA

Aauvagette, Bernadette, Liberation newspaper, June 2015, Paris, pp
4-5

2014

Fractured Worlds, The New Yorker, New York, May 2014

2013

Gentre Di Fotographia, Modena, Italy, pp. 8-13

Financial Review Magazine, Front up, July Issue, France

Square, Magazine, France, pp 46-57

Premier Magazine, No 11, Vol 10, Beijing

2012      Huffington Post, Arts and
Culture, October

IO DONNA, Rome, Italy

The Monthly Photo Art Magazine, Vol 283, No. 11, Beijing

BND Magazine, No 4, Vol 10, Seoul, Korea

2011

Alternative Law Journal (cover), vol 36 (2), Monash University
Press, Melbourne

La Vie L’Art, Arts Magazine, June – July Issue, France

Future Memories, Catherine Nelson, 2011, ex. cat., Galerie
Paris-Beijing

Aude de Bourbon Parme, Paris-Beijing, Aller Retour, Art Actuel,
March – April Issue, France

Next Gen Leadership Series, Catherine Caines, WISH magazine, The
Australian, May

Photoshop Til You Drop, Bethany Small, Time Out Sydney, February

Art Paris 2011, Photo, March issue, France

2010

Lake, exhibition. catalogue, Malcolm Smith, Lake Macquarie Press,
NSW

RBS Emerging Artist Award 2010, ex. catalogue

Collections

Parliament House Collection, Canberra

Microsoft, USA

Hyatt Regency, Amsterdam

Lucas Holding Singapore

University of South Florida, USA

Morgan Stanley, New York

City of Sydney Collection

Artbank Australia

RACV Club, Torquay

Australia Club

David Lowe Collection, Sydney

Charles Justin Collection, Melbourne

Daryl Hewson Collection, Queensland

Various private collections in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia