Jacob (Jake) Nash, artist and designer, was Head of Design at Bangarra Dance Theatre from 2010 to 2023. A Nauiyu/Daly River man raised in Brisbane, Nash studied theatre design at NIDA from 2003 to 2005 and joined Bangarra as a roadie and odd-jobs-man after graduating. Eventually he moved into a design role with the company, winning the Green Room Award for Best Design in Dance for their 2010 production earth & sky. Appointed artist-in-residence at Bangarra the following year, Nash has created the sets for each of the company’s annual productions, including Bennelong (2017), for which he won a Helpmann Award for Best Scenic Design in 2018. In addition, Nash has created production designs for productions by Belvoir St Theatre, Bell Shakespeare, Sydney Theatre Company, Riverside Theatre and the Sydney Festival. Since 2014 he has worked with Bangarra's artistic director Stephen Page to produce content for Sydney's annual Vivid festival, and he was the production designer for Page's film Spear (2015) and the short film Sand. He worked on the costumes for Baz Lurhmann's Australia, and was the production designer for the sci-fi drama Cleverman (2016–2017). In 2021 he became the inaugural creative artist-in-residence for the Sydney Festival.
Created by Ingvar Kenne using traditional film photography, this raw and poetic portrait captures the sitter's intensity.
Gift of the artist 2020. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
© Ingvar Kenne
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