Nicole Slatter completed a BA (Honours) and Masters at Curtin University and a PhD at RMIT. She has exhibited widely in WA and has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions nationally. Her work is held by Artbank, Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, University of Western Australia, King Edward Memorial Hospital, Royal Perth Hospital, City of Perth and Curtin University Art collection. Slatter’s studio research contributes to the field of representational landscape painting and experience of suburbia. Nicole’s current studio practice aims to investigate collaborative practice and authorship in contemporary art. Dr Nicole Slatter is currently the Dean of Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University.
What does Hatched mean to you?’
The Hatched exhibition continues to make a significant social and cultural contribution to the arts community and substantially impacts lives of emerging artists. In the years post my Hatched year (1998-yikes!) I had the privilege of coordinating First Year Fine Art at Curtin. Tertiary training for artists is an interesting and challenging proposition and for my teaching, Hatched played a key role. Hatched has always been the rock star/festival event for the visual arts. The opening night of Hatched is like no other event in the arts. Rammed with young hopefuls along-side the consistent supporters and punters. We would promote it to the students and say “imagine yourself here… look at how fresh, contemporary ideas are valued…This is your community, you belong here.” The impact on the student was clear, from being one of a few keen art students in high school to a community that values and understands art at uni, to a national view of arts graduates from every state and territory in the country.
Hatched certainly influenced my future trajectory and ambition of being an artist and I imagine it has changed the lives of many. As a student we had a set essay focused on where we would choose to hold an exhibition of our work and why (thanks Ted Snell). I wrote mine about PICA and the importance of contemporary art spaces for living artists, it was clearly ambitious and hopeful to imagine a show at PICA. When I was chosen for Hatched in 1998 I had just qualified as a secondary teacher. It was the honour of being selected from my year group and befriending other ambitious graduates at the Hatched conference that helped me make more art, get a studio and book exhibitions. I am so grateful for my Hatched experience.
