This painting is from Elliott Nimmo\’s solo exhibition at Becker Minty in 2024 titled \’Monuments\’.

Like a vibrant, patchwork skin, canvases line the walls and floor of Elliott Nimmo’s Hobart studio. Brushes, rags and tubes of paint litter the space. A vast drop sheet shields the floor, an abstract painting it its own right, coated in the countless layers of paint that never made it to the canvas. Sunlight pours in through the garage door. In this space, vibrant and alive, Elliott draws inspiration from the creative force of his painting idols, the abstract masters of the 20th century. Returning to the studio day after day, the resulting works have become monuments to their legacy and to Elliott’s passion for painting.

‘Monuments’ represents a significant development in Elliott’s art making practice. Moving away from any external references, the subject of these works has become the act of painting itself, what Elliott describes as “an obsessive interrogation of paint.” He has developed these works over many days and weeks, exploring various methodologies and pushing paint to its material limits. Breaking free of the parameters he had set for himself in the past, this body of work signifies a new found level of creative freedom.

Elliott describes how “these paintings were destroyed as much as they were created.” He erased, wiped and attacked them with whatever implements were close at hand in the studio, “until they settled into themselves, like dust settles on a sunlit floor.” Chance also played a significant role in the creation of these works. Elliott responded intuitively to the surprising interactions of pigments or the unpredictable movement of the paint as it was dripped, splashed and smudged around the canvas. This push and pull has resulted in a depth of surface and subtlety of colour that gently draws in the viewer and exemplifies the artist’s passionate dedication to the discipline of abstraction. ‘Monuments’ is Elliott’s love letter to painting.