NICOLE MONKS
blackandwhite creative and mili mili
SAY IT LOUD - Naarm Melbourne Exhibitor
MELBOURNE/AUSTRALIA Designer
Who or what inspires you professionally?
Elders, and stories
NICOLE MONKS
Bio:
Nicole Monks is a multi-disciplinary creative of Yamaji Wajarri, Dutch and English heritage. Monks’s practice is informed by her cross-cultural identity, using storytelling as a way to connect the past with the present and future. Her works take a conceptual approach that are embedded with narratives and aim to promote conversation and connection. An award-winning designer and artist, Monks crosses disciplines to work with furniture and objects, video, installation, performance and public art.
How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
My dad and mum were a designer builders and as a kid I was the brickies labourer. I saw firsthand how ideas turn into sketches/plans and then into the built environment, creating places and space that we can fall in love with.
What do you do?
I work both as a solo and collaborative artist and founder of design practice blackandwhite creative and recently launched Continuing Custodians public art company mili mili.
What excites you in the work you do?
Learning about the Continuing Custodians stories of this land. Creating places that move people. Standing back and seeing mobs voices surround us in the build environment, so we can all share in a deep connection to place.
Who or what inspires you professionally?
Elders, and stories
What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
My chair 'walarnu' was collected by the NGV, I visited here many times from when I was a child and spent hours surround by chairs in their exhibit, and I always wished I could design something worthy of being part of their collection, I love chairs.
Featured Project Name:
‘Marri Ngurang’ (large Place)
Featured Project Location:
Eveleigh
Featured Project Completion Date:
2015
Role in Featured Project:
Collaborator, Project manager, Fabricator, Installer
Featured Project Description:
Designed for ‘Platform’ an affordable housing block entry foyer in Eveleigh , Sydney. The instillation was commissioned by City West Housing to tell the traditional story of the land, Gadigal Country. The collaboration was Charles Madden Gadigal Elder and artist, Eduardo Barata of UFO and Nicole Monks of blackandwhite creative. Only eco-friendly materials were selected; FSC certified White Birch MultiPly, Low VOC Woodwash by Murobond, and designed so no chemical/mechanical fixing required.
