Liam Nunan
“I’ve been a drawer all my life but painting is a relatively new outlet for me. I come from an acting background so in many ways, my exploration of character and story continues into my portraiture and figurative work.”
Fire Season Sun Set - 41 x 30cm - Oil on canvas - $750
An Interview with Liam Nunan.
Tell us a little about yourself and your upbringing.
I grew up in Brisbane with my parents and 3 brothers. Mum and dad decided early on that they wanted to bring us up without a TV, so I began drawing at a young age as a source of entertainment. We had a huge collections of water colour pencils. I remember I liked to draw faces and animals - copying from photos in the national geographic.
I suppose I was seen as a bit of a weirdo at school. I wasn’t particularly academic or sporty and I played flute and trombone which apparently were not the coolest of options. By the time I took up guitar it was too late. My reputation proceeded me and I was known as ‘flute boy’ (sick burn).
I think I always assumed I would go to art school or do music at uni. In year 12 I was cast as Tony in our school musical of West Side Story and I felt like this is what I was supposed to do.
Art took a back seat for a while.
I went on to study acting in Brisbane before moving to Sydney in 2010 to study at NIDA. I graduating in 2013 with a degree in Fine Arts Acting.
Since then I have performed in Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Golden Age, STC and Malthouse Theatre Company’s co production of Away, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam for Belvoir and National Theatre of Parramatta, 25 Down for Queensland Theatre, American Psycho at the Hayes and the Sydney Opera House, Miracle City at the Sydney Opera House, Minus One Sister for Griffin Theatre Company and Machina for La Boite. Plus many more.
It’s only been in recent years that I have gotten back into art.
What lead to your shift to painting as an art form?
The performance industry can be pretty relentless. It’s great when you’re working but for me that was only a few months a year. I’d spend the rest of the time cleaning dishes or delivering food - which doesn’t quite scratch the creative itch. I have never slept well and at some stage I started drawing at night in bed to keep me way from screens. I put some of it up on facebook and an artist friend of mine saw it and took me to life drawing classes for my birthday. I loved it and started going twice a week. I was getting the same sort of creative buzz I’d get in a rehearsal room.
In 2018 I painted my first portrait - an acrylic painting of my grandfather. This went on to become a semi-finalist in the 2019 Doug Moran Portrait Prize. My second portrait was an oil painting of actor and Dollar Bin Darling Jonny Hawkins. This went on to win first prize in the 2019 Lester Portrait Prize in Western Australia.
Is there something you do in your practice today that you wished you had known to do years ago?
To be honest, not really. I’m pretty proud of my progression as a painter. There are certainly things I have learnt along the way but nothing you learn is hard and fast. I can remember being told not to use black and white paint. That confused me because I had just won the Lester prize with a painting that was 90% ivory black and titanium white. I did take that advice at some point and it did help me develop a more nuanced palette. But I’m glad I didn’t hear that before I did that painting.
What are you doing to ensure that you grow and develop as an artist?
I love doing short courses. I usually do some at NAS at the start of each year. I’m finding I am slowly becoming pretty set in my ways - how I interact with particular mediums and stimulus. So I find that they are great to shake my brain up a bit and to rethink my approach.
There is a clear stylistic theme that runs through this exhibition - why did you choose to paint these naked figures floating above changing landscapes?
I have lived with bouts of insomnia for as long as I can remember. I’m also no stranger to ‘sleep starts’ (or ‘Hypnic Jerks’) - the sudden, involuntary muscle contractions you may experience as you are falling asleep that can send you falling in your dreams. These are often brought on my an anxious mind or too much caffeine in your diet.
These images are suggestive of the sensation of sleep. This feeling of being somewhere else. I also wanted to keep it ambiguous as too wether they are floating or falling.
I think they are also a bit of a hangover from lockdown. The loneliness and solitude we felt, and the longing and desire we had to be somewhere else.