Nici Cumpston, (born 1963) is an Australian photographer, painter, curator, writer, and educator.

Early life and education

Cumpston's family background is Barkindji (an Aboriginal people of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

), Afghan, Irish and English. Born in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, she graduated from the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts.

Career

Cumpston shoots on black-and-white film, which is then scanned and printed digitally on canvas before being hand-coloured. An exhibition of her work, ''having-been-there,'' was held at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia houses one of the finest Indigenous Australian art collections in the world, rivaling many of the collections held in Australia. It is the only museum outside Australia dedica ...

in 2014, during which Cumpston spent two months as resident artist. Employed by the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) since 2008, Cumpston became artistic director of Tarnanthi, the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

arts festival held in Adelaide, in 2015. Tarnanthi exhibitions were held at AGSA, the

South Australian Museum The South Australian Museum is a natural history museum and research institution in Adelaide, South Australia, founded in 1856 and owned by the Government of South Australia. It occupies a complex of buildings on North Terrace in the cultu ...

, the

JamFactory JamFactory is a not-for-profit arts organisation which includes training facilities, galleries and shops, located in Adelaide city centre, the West End precinct of Adelaide and on the Seppeltsfield (wine), Seppeltsfield Estate in the Barossa Val ...

and the South Australian School of Art. Cumpston became Curator Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at AGSA in 2016, and remains artistic director role of Tarnanthi.

Recognition

In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Cumpston was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) for "service to the museums and galleries sector, and to Indigenous art".

Works

*In the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and most visited art museum. The NGV houses an encyclopedic art collection across two ...

: **Flooded Gum, Katarapko Creek, Murray River National Park, 2007 ** Nookamka – Lake Bonney ** Tree stumps, western shoreline – Nookamka *In the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

: ** Campsite V, Nookamka Lake

References

External links