Nick Stella | Innerspace #2

Artist Statement

During the twelve months leading up to my exhibition at Red Gallery last year, I wanted to produce a series of works, based on the heart. This was to commemorate my sister Anna-Maria, who passed away from a heart condition. Anna would have turned seventy in February 2024.

This particular painting shows the interior of a human heart; hence the title, Inner Space #2.

Artist Bio

Nick Stella – Artist

 Personal Details

Born in Melbourne in 1952, Nick began work in 1970 as a Trainee Commercial Artist with Kodak (Australia) Pty. Ltd., in Coburg, and completed a Diploma of Art at Phillip Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 1978. After a few more years working as a Graphic Designer, he began teaching in the Secondary School system in 1984, and completed a Graduate Diploma of Education at The University of Melbourne in 1985, which was followed by a Graduate Certificate of Education (Technology Education), also at The University of Melbourne, in 1997.

 Over the past four decades Nick has been a teacher of Visual Arts and Design. Nick has always thought the teaching of creativity in its many forms, is vital to a student’s development, and he believes this should be encouraged and nurtured throughout a student’s whole education.   

 During his working life as a teacher, Nick has maintained a constant interest in the visual arts and has completed many works, as the process of art making remained important to him. These days, Nick is considered a realist painter, however, he also works in a number of different mediums. Over the years, he has been involved in a number of group shows, including exhibitions at the Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, where he was a winner of the Darebin Art Prize in 2010, with a portrait of the writer Christos Tsiolkas. Nick retired from full-time teaching at the end of 2013, to pursue life as a practicing artist.

After completing a number of commissions, Nick has built a reputation for his portraiture work over the past fifteen years. Recently though, he taken a new direction in his work where he is focusing on the human anatomy.

One Person Show

• 2024   Red Gallery, North Fitzroy – HEART   

• 2019    Umberto Espresso Bar, Spazio Arte, Thornbury – A retrospective             

• 2015   Umberto Espresso Bar, Spazio Arte, Thornbury – Off the Press: Travelling Imprints                           

 Two Person Show

• 2005   Vanguard Gallery, Northcote; with John Collins

 Group Exhibitions

• 2024   Red Gallery 

• 2019   Class of ’69, Darebin Arts Centre

• 2019 was a particularly important year for a group of friends and myself, as we all attended what was Preston Technical College (now Melbourne Polytechnic) at St Georges Road Preston, for our final year of secondary school, which was 1969. We decided to hold an exhibition at the Darebin Arts Centre, that would mark fifty years since we all studied together, before moving on to art school and other creative pursuits. The exhibition was titled, ‘Class of ’69’, and was the last group exhibition I was involved in.

• 2016   Who Is Looking At You? Portraiture Prize, Cambridge Studio Gallery. Finalist           

• 2013   Darebin Art Show, Bundoora. Finalist                                                                               

• 2011   Darebin Art Show, Bundoora. Finalist

• 2009   Rotary Art Show, Alexandra Bushfire Commemorative Art Show. Finalist

Award

• 2010   Winner, Darebin Art Show - Hearing the Music: A Portrait of Christos Tsiolkas

Commissioned/Acquired Work

• 2024   Gerard Collins  – portrait of his daughter Philippa

• 2023   Jess Kujawski – Portrait of Patricia

• 2021   Maria McNamara – 2 x portraits of her grand children

• 2021   Lou Gigliuto - double portrait of his parents

• 2021   Portrait of Bob Burnett, Darwin

• 2021   Portrait of Trevor Hollier, Preston

• 2020   Maria McNamara – double portrait of her parents

• 2018   Joe and Dom Briganti – portrait of their father, John Briganti

• 2011   City of Darebin – Acquisition of portrait of Barry Dickens

• 2010   City of Darebin – Acquisition of portrait of Christos Tsiolkas

• 2010   Christos Tsiolkas – Preston, Victoria    

• 2006   The Rigoni Family – Gallio, Italy  

• 2004   Christine Jeffrey – Ivanhoe, Victoria 

• 1992   Aeron Heffernan – West Preston, Victoria 

• 1983   Sacred Heart Primary School – Preston, Victoria