80 × 100 cm

Available through Artis Gallery

Detail from a 280 × 125 cm work that’s almost completed.

180 × 120 cm

Available through Artis Gallery, Auckland NZ

80 × 100 cm

22 x 33 cm

Original drawing

106 x 156 cm

Oil and mixed media

156 x 106 cm

Oil and mixed media on canvas

Framed in american ash

152 x 152 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

I love the salty sweet of bananas cooked in miso, umami heaven. In this work I tried to balance colour in the same way as flavour. Hopefully creating a painting with warmth, that’s balanced and rich.

120 x 90 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in American Ash

180 x 120 cm

Framed in American Ash

This painting is a celebration of green, all the different types of green we see in the edible world- sitting happily next to each other. It’s impossible for two greens to clash in nature so I tested this theory here with viridian green and sap green together.

I was very inspired by nasturiums for this painting, cooking Max Gordy’s nasturtium Tamales to start then Spigas nasturtium pesto

180 x 120 cm

102 x 120 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

46 x 40 cm

Oil and mixed media on board

Framed in american ash

This work emerged after seeing and eating the beautiful banana blossom in Australia.

2021

Oil and mixed media on wooden panel

30 x 40 cm

Framed in American Ash

I’m fascinated by oyster mushrooms, they are both delicate and strong at the same time. I made this work in response to an oyster mushroom lasagna that I made for recent Art Lunch.

80 x 50 cm

Oil and mixed media

Framed in american ash

2021

An Unlikely Comb

Oil and mixed media on board

180 x 120 cm

This piece came about after I asked Chef Max Gordy to give me some examples of some unlikely combinations of flavours. Ingredients that you would never thing would go together. Feijoa and Brussel Sprouts was one of the examples. The recipe was incredible, the flavours were so intense and so different. Inspired by opposites and how well they could work together, I couldn’t wait to paint. I would bring the ingredients into my studio so I could colour match but also feel the personality of the flavours and ingredients and somehow try and get that across in the work.

Lightly Toasted
130 x 80 cm
Framed in american ash
Oil and mixed media

120 x 300 cm

Oils and mixed media

This painting was made in response to a variety of beautiful mushrooms, including oyster, shiitake and lionsmane.

I had an amazing experience visiting Ora Mushroom Farm in Mangawhai. Here Ora talked about each mushroom variety having a personality. This resonated so much with me, as I’ve always felt vegetables are not merely things. They have personalities and whims. I also made this painting in collaboration with the chef Fabrizio from Spiga Restaurant in Auckland. Fab and I talked about what ingredients to use for an Art Lunch and he was very happy to use mushrooms. He advised me to visit Ora Farm and he created a beautiful ora mushroom risotto for guests to enjoy while looking at the mushroom painting.

The title for the painting comes from a conversation I had with Ora about the lionsmane variety of mushroom, “she is very spoilt, she does what she wants, but we forgive her because she is a very beautiful mushroom and so healthy.’

30 x 40 cm

Mixed media drawing

I made this work in response to the many Ottolenghi turmeric recipes that I made before I embarked on a large painting in this colour palette.

106 x 156 cm

Blue spirulina took me down a rabbit warren of blue exploration in both my kitchen and studio. The health benefits, the ultra marine blue colour - everything about this discovery was fantastical.

108 x 158 cm framed in american ash

Turmeric was the starting point. I cooked as many Ottolenghi recipes where turmeric was given the opportunity to shine. From pancakes, to pickled parsnips, to curries - all lit up my kitchen and studio.

60 x 60 cm

Oil and mixed media

This work was made in response to my explorations with aubergine. Such a beautiful vegetable that transforms so much during cooking. I made aubergine dumplings and baba ghanoush

Oil paint on board

22 x 35 cm

This little work came about while I was working on a much larger painting, inspired by lush green ingredients. It has a lot of detail underneath, but in the end this simple yet strong composition appeared. My eye keeps getting pulled towards it, in the studio, it might be small but it’s got something about it.

Note - the painting is just sitting in the frame, not attached yet, hence it doesnt look even all the way around. It’s a brand new work.

2021

Though Unorthodox

180 x 120 cm

This piece came about after I asked Chef Max Gordy to give me some examples of some unlikely combinations of flavours. Ingredients that you would never thing would go together. Feijoa and Brussel Sprouts was one of the examples. The recipe was incredible, the flavours were so intense and so different. Inspired by opposites and how well they could work together, I couldn’t wait to paint. I would bring the ingredients into my studio so I could colour match but also feel the personality of the flavours and ingredients and somehow try and get that across in the work.

2019
Nicola Bennett

Oil and mixed media
65x65cm

Comes in a beautiful high quality handmade walnut box frame

‘p25’ references a book. I don’t like to say what inspired me from that page number and from what book, as the viewer often then sees only that thing. The openness of page numbers means it could be from any book, therefore being different for every viewer.

I work mainly in oils and pastels. I love the differences of wet and dry media. My process is about the gathered information from cooking and the feeling about that particular food.  

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