Shona Nunan's artworks resonate with a joyous freedom. They are both unbridled expressions of the strength of the female form and at the same time meticulously refined and highly crafted works that speak to decades of commitment to one's craft.
Shona Nunan's artworks resonate with a joyous freedom. They are both unbridled expressions of the strength of the female form and at the same time meticulously refined and highly crafted works that speak to decades of commitment to one's craft.
Her figures stand proud as guardians and protectors, supporting all those around them whilst charting their own path through life. 'Spirit Guardian' and 'Two Earth Guardians' depict an organic interplay of human form and wrapped cloak-like shields that resemble sections of age-old trees or slices of unearthed strata. They sit somewhere between human figures and rooted sentinels of the natural realm. 'Life' is a freely flowing curvilinear form that invites parallels to enriching root systems, spiraling cosmos' and the beautiful child-like simplicity of a hand drawn line.
Shona's horses, both with and without their riders, project a nobility and grace that speaks to a rare and intuitive understanding of subject borne by the artist. These are not direct depictions but impressions of untethered beings with the freedom to roam, explore and be at one with the land. They are instantly recognisable yet somehow fluid, as if they are an amalgamation of a thousand different singular viewpoints, seen through the eyes of young and old alike, brought together as one.
As with her sculptures, Shona's delicate yet dense pastel on paper drawings are alive with an energy that pulses from deep within. In 'Night Sky' a vessel-like form ripples and quivers emitting a fantastic white glow while endless spiraling lines dance around it. Undulating shapes hewn from a meditative repetition of line induce a sense of wonderment, drawing in and guiding ones gaze.
Born in 1959, Shona lives and works between Tuscany and Provence. She is member of the Royal Sculpture Society and has exhibited extensively in Australia, Italy, France, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany. She has artworks in the collections of Swire property group, BNP Paribus, Four Seasons hotels, Sydney University and the Al Muhaidib headquarters in Damman, Saudi Arabia.