The Tail
Nick Collerson

The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond

The Tail marks Nick Collerson’s sec­ond exhi­bi­tion at PALAS, bring­ing togeth­er a series of paint­ings that offer sym­bol­ism not as a code to crack, but as a liv­ing, shift­ing language.

In these works, noth­ing holds for long. A body becomes a shape, a shape slips into light; fig­ures recede as colour, space, or archi­tec­ture takes their place. Per­spec­tives tilt and loosen, and with them, mean­ing is deferred, con­tra­dict­ed, and made open.

Coller­son paints with a can­dour that feels both dis­arm­ing yet pre­cise – guid­ed by a deep trust in the act of paint­ing itself. What unfolds is the qui­et com­plex­i­ty of what is at play: a philo­soph­i­cal, ancient game into how we chase images, words and ideas, and how these things elude us.

The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
Ghost of the Earth
2025
oil on canvas
152.5 x 137 cm / 60 x 54 in.
Photo: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
Deer Moon, 2025 Oil on linen 137.2152.5 cm Pho­to: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
Two Doors
2025
oil on canvas
167 x 183 cm / 65 3/4 x 72 in.
Photo: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
The Tail, 2025 instal­la­tion view, PALAS, Syd­ney Pho­to: Josh Raymond
Common Sense
2024
oil on canvas
96.5 x 81.7 cm / 38 x 32 1/8 in.
Photo: Josh Raymond
Around Uncut Lines
2025
oil on canvas
167.5 x 183 cm / 66 x 72 in.
Photo: Josh Raymond