DESERT STORM

An article by Joanna Litchfield relating to Kim Nelson's artwork 'Desert Storm' . (Canberra Times 27th November 1994)

One late July day in 1990 while on holiday in London, artist and departing curator of Cooma Cottage (the National Trust property near Yass NSW), Kim Nelson witnessed a startling event that was to haunt him for four years. It was close on lunchtime in the grounds of the beautiful church of St Martin-in-the Fields when through the crowd stalked the figure of an angel.

He towered over three metres tall, his face was deathly white and instead of radiating peace and goodwill he appeared shackled and vagrant-like. He was heralded by a tiny, gnome-like creature dressed in a World War I helmet and jacket above a crisp ballerina’s tutu.

"It was an amazing sight," Nelson recalls. "This was street theatre and as it progressed it transpired that the tall figure was a fallen angel and according to legend or mythology, when an angel falls to earth some ill is enacted on the world. I overheard someone telling their partner that this was a Belgian theatre troupe.

"None of the things I had seen affected me quite as much as this. I decided that if I was ever to be true to myself I must get this down on canvas, paint a picture about the troubles in the world, war, famine and natural disasters and how innocent people, everyday folk are caught in between, helpless to do anything against the might and power of such catastrophes. Desert Storm, the painting, was conceived there and then.

"A day or two later I was on a plane back to Australia and within a month Iraq and the United Nations were at war."

Commitments prevented Nelson from putting brush to canvas until a few weeks ago. Since 1988 he has worked as a curator/manager for the National Trust of Australia. He expresses regret at having not worked on the painting the moment he go back to Australia, saying he feels it may lack some of the magic and emotion of the moment.

Whatever his misgivings, the painting is an immensely powerful work. Measuring almost three metres by two, Desert Storm epitomises the horror of war, the chilling fear of its innocent victims, the threat of worse to come and the inconsolable grief of loss.

The scene is the desert; in the left foreground a terrified woman clutching a distressed infant looks back as she flees a flimsy campsite. Behind her the last of the blue sky is engulfed by streaks of fire and then the black storm itself. In the centre of the painting, seeming to rise out of the canvas to dwarf everything, is the fallen angel, bars of lightening following the leading edge of his enormous wings to be earthed far below. The right side of the painting is darkness save the eerie glow of the aftershock of lightening and the final touch added just two weeks ago, an olive branch.

Nelson is still not sure why he felt compelled to paint Desert Storm but even while the project was still in the planning stages he decided it should be donated to some organisation that might benefit from such a gift. He contacted UNICEF who were delighted by the idea.

He sought sponsorship from Scan-Larson-Juhl, one of the country’s largest frame manufacturers. Not only were they prepared to donate a frame, they also suggested the addition of a newly developed molding which they were about to release; its name "Desert Mirage". For Nelson, the jigsaw puzzle was beginning to fit together.

Desert Storm, complete with olive branch, occupied the entire length of Nelson’s tiny studio at the National Trust property Cooma Cottage, until its recent move to the Anthony Rose Gallery in Yass where it will remain on view until the UNICEF handover.

Sculptor and friend, Marlie Kentish-Barnes popped into Nelson’s flat one day and viewed the painting.

"That’s Frederick," she said, pointing to the figure of the fallen angel. She explained to Nelson that she knew the troupe quite well. Though they performed regularly overseas, their home base was Sydney. With the jigsaw now complete, it is hoped that the troupe will be in Australia to be present at the time of the official handing over of the painting to UNICEF next month.

The painting Desert Storm marks a new era in Nelson’s life, its completion and his impending departure from the National Trust have cleared the way for the progression of his art. Although he has had exhibitions in recent years his consuming work for the National Trust has left little time for painting. Were it not for his time a Cooma Cottage however, Kim doubts he would have reached the decision to devote all his time to art.

Nelson was born in the Australian east coast town of Kiama and grew up in Nowra, some fifty kilometres further south. Throughout his school years a natural aptitude for drawing provoked his parents into sending him to the renown Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney where he studied drawing. He diverged into graphic design & advertising in the years that followed and it was when he accepted a graphic design job in Canberra that he stumbled across the National Trust property Cooma Cottage. He started living there in 1984 and when it opened to the public in 1988 Nelson accepted the role of manager/curator turning it into one of the National Trust's most remarkable success stories.

Nelson seems to have been an integral part of Cooma Cottage. Although he will be missed in his present role, his love of the Southern Tablelands will hopefully keep him and his family nearby and ‘Desert Storm’ and other inspirational works to come will ensure he is never forgotten.