Nicholas Currie: Don’t look in the dark or something will look back at ya: Paintings by a ghost fella

In Glossary of a Haunting, Eve Tuck and C. Ree describe the structure of settler colonialism as “an ongoing horror made invisible by its persistence.”
In settler colonial societies, haunting exists, they write, as “the relentless remembering and reminding that will not be appeased by settler society’s assurances of innocence and reconciliation.”
Glossary of a Haunting was a key text explored by Nicholas Currie throughout his Honours year, in his thesis Glossary of a haunting by a blakfella, and the body of work he produced, which was exhibited in the 2024 Grad Show.
Nicholas’ paintings, which he describes as “poised in their looseness” include multiple depictions of ghostliness, haunting, remembering and absence.
“As Indigenous people, this whole space is haunted. And we're here all the time in this colonial apocalypse, in this concrete world,” he told me while walking me through the show.
“It's still Indigenous land, but you need to recognise that there's still embedded histories everywhere.”
Nicholas is a Mulunjali, Kuku Yalanji and mixed European artist, who completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) this year.
The largest of the works in Nicholas’ Grad Show exhibit is big feet a 1.6m x 3.2m canvas with two static black footprints in the corner.
“It’s like I'm just standing and looking at what I’ve done. I’ve positioned myself as the ghost within the space.”
Nicholas Currie with grad show painting big feet. Image by Sarah Hall.
Ngalakgan writer, critic, and editor Tristen Harwood was Nicholas’ supervisor during his Honours year. Nicholas received offers for further study at other institutions, but the opportunity to work closely with Tristan cemented his decision to come to the VCA.
“Tristen says I’m too polite in this painting, standing on the side,” he comments on big feet.
"And I think I might agree.”
He credits the support of Tristan and other mob in the cohort, with helping him to feel greater within himself and his art making by the end of the year.
Nicholas’ paintings deal with hauntings, but are playful, referencing the Western Gothic aesthetic of ghosts, including one, ghost fella, with its Casper-esque white sheet. The exhibition title, Don’t Look in the Dark or Something will look back at Ya: Paintings by a Ghost Fella came from Nicholas’ Nan. It’s something she would say to make the kids be careful at night, to go to bed or to stick close to the fire. But Nicholas’ interpretation is philosophical.
“It’s like, cool, you’re going for knowledge but you have to know that something might look back at ya. And it might not be what you want to hear or you want to know, but that’s knowledge.”
In going after the knowledge this year, Nicholas has positioned himself firmly in place and lineage.
“My Nan came to uni every day, as do I. She was a cleaner, so she came to clean and to earn a wage. I learn and I also work here occasionally with invigilation. But it's a very important thing to say – my Nan did this and so do I."
Another of Nicholas’ Grad Show works features Keen’s curry powder, smeared pungently all over the Southern wall of the studio-come exhibition space. He explained to me the context.
“Keen’s curry powder is very used in the Aboriginal community, and I wanted to link that to my name and my lineage - being a Currie and knowing where I come from. It's also funny to just rub a bunch of curry powder on the wall, and you know, if black fellas see that they might be like, oh yeah, he knows what he's doing.”
The curry powder also gave him an opportunity to connect with the legacy of his Nan’s work at this institution.
“I can put a bunch of Keen’s curry powder on the floor and the wall, and I've asked the cleaners not to touch it. I’ll clean it up.”
“And like a ghost I’ll leave, and no one will know I was here.”