Living and working on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Heath treats his painting with the work ethic of the showman, the craft of the tattooer and the imagination of an artist. He brings a unique vision to well established painterly genres, in turn expanding the tradition of painting as only a true showman can. This self-taught tattooer brings something of that subculture to his painting. He has made a conscious effort to meet the tradition of painting squarely on its own terms, by studying and reading to challenge his well-honed graphic sensibility and embrace the painterly edge. His touch is becoming more gestural, more expressive with each passing show, the tattooed vignette is making way for images wholly conscious of the conventions of Western painting. To know all this is to begin to understand the creative mind of Heath Nock, whose energetic landscapes and surreal still life paintings are a hit with fellow painters and collectors alike. As a kid, he would arrange the plush prizes and trinkets of side show alley into odd tableaux of unexpected variety, allowing poetic associations to form between disparate objects. Then, it was off to another town, young Heath watching the Australian landscape whirl by.
