ZOONOSES artist talk with Dr Nicola Hooper

Join Dr. Nicola Hooper at Bayside Gallery as she discusses her works in the exhibition ZOONOSES.

Through drawing and lithography, Nicola uses fairy-tale iconology and rhymes to explore concepts surrounding zoonoses (animal diseases that can infect humans) and how we perceive certain animals in the context of fear and disease.

Speaking about her work, Nicola said, “These works use fairy tales, myths and rhymes as a metaphor to discuss zoonotic outbreaks in a non-threatening and restrained manner. I have carefully studied animal specimens in museum collections and applied them to archival and current newspaper stories of zoonotic diseases that have had devastating effects on human life.”

The ZOONOSES exhibition stems from Nicola’s doctoral research and provides insightful observations into our contradictory perceptions of animals in relation to fear of disease.