Nicholas Folland

Nicholas Folland's realm poses speculations for ratbag scientists, fringe dwellers, explorers and dreamers. - Alexie Glass, 2008

Nicholas Folland transforms the everyday, the overlooked and the no longer fashionable. Using domestic crystalware, repurposed taxidermy, ice and other wonders, he makes material metaphors that speak to our history and identity.

This book explores Nicholas Folland's work through a collection of illustrated essays that encompass the artist's captivating family history and abiding interest in extreme climates and narratives of ill-fated exploration. The essays are illuminated by brief accounts of curiosity and adventure - from making boats in bottles to snippets cut from art history. As well as images of the artist's own work, Nicholas Folland also reproduces works of art from the Art Gallery of South Australia's collection that invigorate a visual conversation with his work.

This alluring book is the first major publication devoted to the work and world of Nicholas Folland.

Praise for Nicholas Folland:
'The book Nicholas Folland is the happy product of an individual and team effort...Slade provides an easy commentary on the works and Folland’s inspirations, rounding this out with quotations from Folland himself, and events from South Australia’s early days...A book such as this gives the art lover a chance to see a style develop and understand the context and impulse that led to a work’s creation.' - Jill, M/C Reviews

Lisa Slade grew up in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales. She attended university in Sydney, where she taught until 2002, then moved to Newcastle to become a mother, a university lecturer and a curator. In 2011 she relocated to Adelaide to take up the role of Project Curator at the Art Gallery of South Australia. In addition to curating exhibitions, this role involves lecturing in art history in a program developed collaboratively between the University of Adelaide and the Art Gallery of South Australia. Lisa's first book, an art education text, was published in 1996 by Oxford University Press. Since then she has written and published reviews, academic essays, catalogue entries and monographs, including Ben Quilty (2009).

Lisa Slade lives in Adelaide with her partner Simon and son Perry. She hopes to complete her PhD in art history in the very near future but fears other projects and adventures will continue to distract her.