Friday night we celebrated the opening of Heath Nock debut solo exhibition at Wester, Smile, to a great reception. Selling multiple works prior to the opening with the remainder being snapped up on opening night.

For his debut solo exhibition with Wester Gallery, Australian artist Heath Nock brings us ‘SMILE’. Presenting a fresh series of sectional perspective paintings, navigating through landscapes and capturing still life’s adorned with toys. Progressing onto blocks of rich hues, at times concluding with the inclusion of meticulous patterning. Playful colours invite the viewer to focus into the image while the forms move you into a thinking state, where the question of “what is happening” is met. Nock mentioned while asked about the work's origins, “They are what my dreams look like. Since I was a kid, I've had this recurring dream slash nightmare of being in a tiled red lit room, where my face is pressed hard against a static filled television. What comes next is a series of images and numbers. It’s frightening but strangely “normal”.

‘SMILE’ rides on the back of Nock winning the 2023 Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award, which was presented to him in an audience of Australia's art elite at the prestigious Mosman Art Prize.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.

Nock has recently exhibited at notable galleries such as , Goulburn Regional Gallery, Backwoods Gallery Melbourne, China Heights, Hake House and Compendium Gallery Melbourne. Alongside taking out the Guy Warren Emerging Artist Award, Nock has been a finalist in the Mosman Art Prize (23), National Capital Art Prize (22) and the Goulburn Art Award (22)