Fiona Abicare: Nuts and Berries
Fiona Abicare: Nuts and Berries spans tableware, furniture, and sculpture, taking its inspiration from the Sydney School—an influential group of architects celebrated for their deep connection to the Australian landscape and a raw, minimalist approach to materials. With her signature multidisciplinary approach, Abicare reimagines everyday domestic forms through exceptional craftsmanship and collaborative partnerships. In Nuts and Berries, she pushes the boundaries of sculpture, fashion, and functional design, weaving together materiality, history, and desire in a way that speaks to contemporary life while honoring past legacies.
Fiona Abicare: Nuts and Berries, Preview is presented at Alpha60 Chapter House, Flinders Lane, Melbourne from 3 to 28 April. Supported by the City of Melbourne.
Nuts and Berries, Collection, will be presented at Sarah Scout Presents, from 15 May to 22 June, as part of NGV Melbourne Design Week 2025.
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Working through the expanded practice of sculpture, Abicare’s projects are distinguished by their engagement with a range of fields such as fashion, interior design, and art history. From these various fields, different material histories, stylistic periods, influences and ideas are folded together in order to draw out correspondences. Operating at the intersection of art and design, the interdisciplinary approach in Abicare’s practice allows for an expansive vision and examination of social environments, transposing meaning and effect to the psychological understanding and subject of sculpture.
Based on extensive material research and conceptual framing, Abicare’s practice draws specific attention to the material qualities of objects and how an audience encounters their placement in space. She has developed an interest in artisanal craftsmanship both as a form of historical research within her practice and as a maker. This interest in the crafting of objects traverses the conventional contexts and boundaries of visual arts practice, the proposed project will continue this methodology, addressing the intersections between histories of social space and their contemporary contexts.
Fiona Abicare completed a Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts (1994) and Honours in Sculpture at RMIT University (1999). In 2006 she was awarded a Masters of Arts in Interior Design from RMIT University, and she undertook an Australia Council London Studio residency in 2012. Abicare has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions including, most recently, Fiona Abicare, Guy Benfield, Oliver Henry, Animal House Fine Arts, Melbourne, (2024); Melbourne Now, National Gallery of Victoria, (2023); A Thousand Different Angles, McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, (2022); Rose Moon, West Space, Melbourne, (2019); A Stitch in Time, Hamilton Gallery Hamilton, (2019); I DON’T RHYME RIGHT NOW, Sarah Scout Presents, (2019); The Enigma Code, Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne, (2018),; Spring 1883, (2014/18), Americano, Sarah Scout Presents (2016); Why not walk backward, Gertrude Contemporary, Melbourne, (2014); Scandinavian Freestyle, Hero Building, (2013); NEW11, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, (2011) and COVERS, Project Gallery, Heide Museum of Modern Art (2009).
