Nuha Saad

Artist Profile

Biography

Nuha Saad has long been interested in the ornamental and the architectural, seeing her practice as an archaeology of the suburbs. Her work seeks to uncover and to highlight the slowly disappearing decorative elements of the suburbs. She is drawn to the turned wood elements of Victorian and Federation era designs, which were typically added to domestic interiors for decorative effect. Through her practice, she utilises these forms to explore the ways in which spatial features and colour can collude to construct a sense of place, or cultural identity. In this enquiry, her work also calls into question whether decoration is simply an addition, or an integral part of our built environment.

In Saad’s exhibitions, these suburban ornamental forms are often placed alongside the hard geometric shapes of minimalism. This is revealing of both Saad’s western art training and eastern sensibility – an ongoing tension in the artist’s practice that is demonstrative of a feeling of being caught in between different cultural experiences.

Colour also plays an important role in Saad’s practice. She uses it as a tool to describe and destabilise sculptural forms, as well as to draw in, delight and intrigue viewers. Saad views colour as the nexus of geometric minimalism and the ornamental, and the site in which balance is both formally and intuitively achieved.

Nuha Saad is a Sydney based artist, whose work is gaining increasing attention for its spatial dynamism and play. Saad holds an Masters of Visual Art from Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney (1999), a Graduate Diploma of of Education from the University of Sydney (1991) and a Bachelor of Visual Art from the City Art Institute (1988, now UNSW Art and Design). A selection of Saad’s slew of awards and finalist nominations, include a 2022 finalist position in the Beechwood Art Award; in 2021 Saad was named a finalist in the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize; in 2020 she was named a finalist in the Tom Bass Sculpture Prize; and in 2019 she was a finalist in both the Deakin Small Sculpture Award and the Rookwood Hidden Sculpture Prize. She has received numerous major public art commissions, and has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Her work is held in the collections of ARTBANK, City of Sydney, Randwick City Council and Royal Melbourne Hospital, as well as private collections throughout Australian and the US.

BIOGRAPHY

Exhibitions

Selected Solo Exhibitions (Since 2000)
2021 The Folly of Colour, Galerie Pompom, Sydney
2019 Ornamental Fancies, Galerie Pompom, Sydney
2018 Then and Now, Articulate Project Space
2015 Glitter is going under!, AirSpace Projects, Sydney (with Ali Noble)
2011 The Necessity of Ornament, James Dorahy Project Space
2009 Imagined Constellations, James Dorahy Project Space
2007 The New City Beautiful Project, James Dorahy Project Space
2006 Patterned Space, Esa Jaske Gallery, Sydney
2005 Intersecting Geometries, Artspace, Sydney (collaboration with Mimi Tong)
2004 Lines of Incidence, MOP Gallery, Sydney
2003 Ripple with Blue Stripes, Gallery 4A, Sydney
Ripple with Green Stripes, MOP Gallery, Sydney
2002 Sedan Ace +, Room 35, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney (with Kay Wood)
2001 Sedan Ace, Room 35, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney (with Kay Wood)
Sedan Ace Prelude, Block Gallery, Sydney (with Kay Wood)

Selected Group Exhibitions (Since 2000)
2021 Sydney Contemporary, Galerie Pompom
Spring 1883 with Galerie Pompom
Stopping by the Colour Wheel, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
2020 The Home, Hazelhurst Arts Centre
Intersect Chicago Art Fair 2020
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair Presents 2020
2019 MOP Projects 2003-2016, Artspace Sydney
2018 Fabstraction, Flinders Street Gallery
2018 Breathing Colours, Vandal gallery
2017 Painting Not Painting, Galerie Pompom
Our House, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery
2016 Stable, Articulate Project Space
2014 reSATURATEryb, Grace Cossington Smith Gallery, Sydney
2013 Intra-Sections, Verge Gallery, University of Sydney
2012 Saturate, Sydney College of the Arts
Mountains and Valleys, James Dorahy Project Space
2011 Colouring in (my world 2.0), James Dorahy Project Space
Lit-up like a christmas tree VI, James Dorahy Project Space
Fifth, James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
2010 Lit-up like a christmas tree V, James Dorahy Project Space
Fourth, James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
Colouring in (Material), James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
2009 Colouring in (Paper), James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
2008 Artspace 24/25, Artspace, Sydney
Colouring In (Sculpture), James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
2007 Our Lucky Country (Still Different), Hazlehurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre
Funeral Songs, MOP Projects, Sydney
2006 Our Lucky Country, Hazlehurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre
Hardware, University of Technology Sydney Gallery
Lucky 7, James Dorahy Project Space, Sydney
We Are Australian Too, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
2005 Room 35 Turns 8, Gitte Weise Gallery
2004 A Different Group, Gitte Weise Gallery
Glacier, Touring exhibition: Benalla Art Gallery Victoria, Newcastle Regional Gallery NSW,
Queensland University of Technology Art Museum and Bond University Art Gallery Queensland
2002 Blue Lotus Section 4, First Draft Gallery
Untitled, Penthouse and Pavement, Melbourne
1,2,3,4,4, Fanzine, Curators Nicholas Chambers and Reuben Keehan
2001 Glacier, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Curators Suzanne Davies and Darren Wardle
That was then, this is now, Gitte Weise Gallery, Sydney, Curator Alexie Glass
Reckonings, Performance Space, Sydney, Curators Ihab Shalbak and Rea
East of Somewhere, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Curator Ihab Shalbak
Blue lotus section, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney
Suspended, First Draft Gallery, Sydney
2000 MNCBM, Artspace, Sydney
D-Turn, Rubyayre, Sydney
Gravity Fails, First Draft Gallery, Sydney

Awards

Awards, Commissions and Grants (Since 2000)
2022 Beechwood Art Award Finalist, Beechwood Victoria
2021 Public Art Commission Alexandria for City of Sydney & Atlas Group
2019 Public Art Commission Rosebery Avenue Rosebery for City of Sydney & Meriton Group
2018 Public Art Commission Rosebery Avenue Rosebery for City of Sydney & Meriton Group
2017 Public Art Commission ArtMoves Project for Transport for NSW
2017 Public Art Commission Rothschild Ave Rosebery for City of Sydney and Meriton Group
2017 Public Art Commission Marrickville High School
2016 Public Art Commission Wulaba Park at Green Square for City of Sydney and Meriton Group
2016 Public Art Commission Dalmeny Avenue Rosebery for City of Sydney and Meriton Group
2009 Public Art Commission Jubilee Square Glebe for City of Sydney
2008 Public Art Commission Skippedy Skip Fence Glebe for City of Sydney
2005 NSW Ministry for the Arts Gunnery Artist Studio, Sydney
2001 New Work Project Grant, Australia Council for the Arts
2000 NSW Ministry for the Arts Gunnery Artist Studio, Sydney

Selected Finalist (Since 2000)
2021 Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize
2020 Tom Bass Sculpture Prize
2019 Deakin Small Sculpture Award
2019 Rookwood Hidden Sculpture Prize
2018 Deakin Small Sculpture Award
2017 Paramor Art + Innovation Prize
2016 Meroogal Women’s Art Prize
2012 Blake Prize
2010 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, RBS Prize
2005 NSW Ministry for the Arts Artspace Artist Studio
2004 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize; Helen Lempriere National Sculpture Award, ABN AMRO Award
2003 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize;
2000 NSW Ministry for the Arts Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship

ARTWORKS

Nuha Saad The Folly of Purple, Orange and Blue 2023 Acrylic on wood, 2 posts 180 x 25 x 25 cm $12,000.00 ENQUIRE →
Nuha Saad Sunburst II (XOX) 2022 Acrylic on wood, 6 parts 15 x 65 x 20 cm $2,800.00 ENQUIRE →
Nuha Saad Sunburst (XOX) 2022 Acrylic on wood, 6 parts 15 x 65 x 20 cm $2,800.00 ENQUIRE →
Nuha Saad Walking the Line IV 2022 acrylic on wood 56 x 79 x 8 cm $3,200.00 ENQUIRE →
Nuha Saad On Top of Yellow, Red and Blue 2021 acrylic on wood 108 x 38 x 30 cm $6,400.00 ENQUIRE →
Nuha Saad The Folly of Colour III 2020-2021 acrylic on wood 108 x 38 x 30 cm $6,400.00 ENQUIRE →