Long. Distant. Lover.

COOL as cool friend Nicola Hardy (secretenvelope.blogspot.com) is an extremely talented artist. She has a new exhibition titled Long. Distant. Lover. in Hamburg. If you happen to be passing through Germany soon, I suggest you go check it out. Here's the blurb about Nicola's event at Facebook.com:

"Long. Distant. Lover. is a series of 100 drawings by Australian artist, Nicola Hardy, who is currently an artist in residence at Vorwerkstift in Hamburg. The drawings are in a comic/cartoon style and are based on self-portrait photographs taken by the artist over a two-month period in the winter of 2007 in Berlin. The drawings form the basis for a stop-motion animation, which will be available on a DVD, along with short films made from photographs. In this work Nicola has adopted a persona, in a Cindy Sherman-esque fashion. Some people call it burlesque, others call it porn, but she likes to think of it as a bored chick taking her clothes off in her bedroom. The photographs employ the visual language of the interweb – DIY, low budget, real life style – and were taken with the built-in camera on her laptop.Previously, Nicola has self-published comics and zines, mostly of an autobiographical nature. Unlike her other work, Long. Distant. Lover. is devoid of text, leaving the story up to the imagination of the viewer. The work depicts a classic striptease and banana eating scenario, influenced by short films starring Bettie Page. Nicola invites you into a fantasy world of a candy-coloured bedroom where you can become more than just a casual observer, you can project your own ideals and ideas onto the situation. The title of the exhibition refers to the original intention of photos and films: as a visual love letter to a long distance lover. Perhaps this is a real or imagined situation, perhaps the recipient is you. . .If you can't make it to the opening, don't worry, the exhibition continues until March 22 and it's also going to be shown in Melbourne (when I get my shit together)."