Sydney-Based Artist Nikolaus Dolman on Making Art from Social Media

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Mixed-media legend Nikolaus Dolman is renowned for deconstructing pop culture. He's taken on the selfie, clickbait and the 'Western lifestyle economy' all by way of collage and image manipulation. He's copied, cut and pasted his way onto the Australian art scene, garnering attention by subverting our popular obsessions and the repetitiveness of mass media through the infinitesimal forms images can take.

And this week, you can see Nikolaus' views on the modern world and how he recontextualises it in his own way at Wild Turkey Way at The Annandale Hotel. There, classic bourbon, iconic Sydney burgers and some of Australia's best artists come together at the inner west pub, for a night of doing things the Wild Turkey way, which is to say, your own way.

So to honour this bourbon fete and the spirit of forging your own path, we sat down with Nikolaus to learn about his craft and how he's doing things his very own way.

How did you get started as an artist?

Everyone in my family is creative in their own way, and has definitely influenced me towards a career in the visual arts.

Did your style evolve into collage from something else?

I studied printmaking in my undergrad at Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW, and from there, my practice evolved into different mediums — all closely related to paper, surface and texture. [I've been influenced by] the tactile qualities of paper and infinite possibilities of image reproduction.

Where do you source your material from?

I source material from commercial and domestic advertising as a start, then it gets lost and transformed through process into a subversion of its original context and form. I'm attracted to pattern and how certain images tessellate, or at least attempt to.

What's the message behind your work with its focus on topics like selfies, advertising and popular culture?

My work reflects the western lifestyle economy and culture through mainstream media and advertising. Through my work, I explore the repetitious and obsessive qualities of living in an image-saturated world, and the effects such immediacy and disposability have in our everyday. I'm interested in how we are represented in advertising, and how it evokes certain desires. I guess social identity plays a big part in my thought process when I am conjuring up new ideas for works.

What's the piece of work that you're most proud of?

I've just completed [my] largest piece to date, which I'm excited to show in an upcoming solo show at Firstdraft in Woolloomooloo, opening June 7.

Have you ever received any backlash or criticism about your artwork?

Yes, mostly because I am personally entrenched in the subject and in challenging certain aspects of it. I try to take an observational stance and eliminate a negative tone by using irony and humour. Also, the act of 'borrowing' content to make work from is sometimes frowned upon. But isn't it just another way of viewing already familiar evocations?

Nikolaus Dolman's work, along with other Aussie artists 'doing things their way', will be on display at The Annandale Hotel as part of the Wild Turkey Way pop-up this Friday, May 26. Find more info about the event here.