PART 2 /  
NINA WALTON, ARTIST, SYDNEY

Overlooking Redleaf Pool sits the Art Deco home of Sydney-based artist Nina Walton. Inside, walls of books line the rooms, covering every subject imaginable, alongside objects gathered from friends and travels. When we arrived, Nina served soba tea in mismatched Japanese cups collected on visits to see her son in Japan. In that moment, it felt less like arriving as guests and more like being welcomed as friends.

For Resort 26, Nina Walton’s original artworks were reimagined as garments, a continuation of her rhythmic and meditative practice. Her process mirrors the motion of weaving, where systems and rules become the foundation for creativity rather than the barrier.

Here, we reflect on her evolving approach to making, our collaboration, and the beauty found in systems, structure and abstraction.

HOW DO THE BOOKS, OBJECTS, AND TRAVEL MEMORIES THAT FILL YOUR HOME INSPIRE OR INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?

Creativity is a delicate state - it doesn’t always want to come out and play. But if I build a beautiful, friendly, protected and supported home and studio, I find that it is easier to get into the right headspace to make work, and actually just to live better and more peacefully. If there is anything I am addicted to, it’s books and travel. I love reading and learning and exploring and moving - being surrounded by books feels like being at “home” wherever that might be. Most of the objects I hang onto are filled with history and memories, collected over the years, often made or given by friends and family. I think all these things help to create a sort of coherence and sense of safety. They are like the background noise that allows for something new to emerge.

WHICH ROUTINES OR RITUALS HELP YOU ENTER A CREATIVE MINDSET?

I’m not great at routines in general, but I’ve tried to create small rituals to help centre me each day. Waking up early, drinking tea in bed, and talking to my husband about what’s going on has become an indispensable part of my day. I’ve also had a daily meditation practice for about 20 years, and many ideas for work come while I’m sitting quietly on a cushion. I’m a big believer in having a proper lunch, so I’ll often meet up with a friend for conversation and connection. Overall, I’m sincerely endeavouring to live life in accordance with a more spiritual, non-attached mindset, receiving inspiration and living in accordance with natural cycles and the inevitable ebbs and flows. This doesn’t always fit with our fast moving, hyper-productive culture, but the more I slow things down and keep things simple, the better things seem to be, and the easier the work seems to flow into the world.

“CREATIVITY IS A DELICATE STATE — IT DOESN’T ALWAYS WANT TO COME OUT AND PLAY. BUT IF I BUILD A BEAUTIFUL, FRIENDLY, PROTECTED AND SUPPORTED HOME AND STUDIO, I FIND IT EASIER TO GET INTO THE RIGHT HEADSPACE TO MAKE WORK, AND ACTUALLY JUST TO LIVE BETTER AND MORE PEACEFULLY.”

YOU MOVED FROM LAW AND ECONOMICS INTO ART; A TRANSITION FROM RULES AND SYSTEMS TO INTUITION AND MAKING. HOW DOES THIS JOURNEY CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE WORK YOU CREATE?

In my art practice, I use systems and rules but try to keep it open to intuition, and I especially pay close attention to my “mistakes” as they are often clues to where the work wants to go. It’s always important that the work is made by hand because it’s the organic act of making that introduces some randomness and unexpectedness. I like the sense of human connection that arises across time and space when you know that an actual person made something rather than a machine.

I’ve been surprised at how much working within a set of constraints has expanded my practice. For example, while I almost always use a grid of some kind, I’m quite agnostic about the medium I employ. I will happily make a painting, or produce a book, or make a piece of furniture or sculpture. To me, they are all speaking the same language and are part of the same family of work. So, limitations paradoxically open all sorts of other avenues that would have been invisible otherwise.

GRIDS, RULES, AND REPETITION ARE KEY IN YOUR PRACTICE. HOW DO THEY INTERACT WITH INTUITION AND EXPERIMENTATION?

I love grids – they make me feel happy and calm. There is an order, a structure, a balance. They connect into the worlds of games, weaving and textiles, mathematics, modernist art, conceptual art, and computer coding. They are simultaneously enclosing and expansive in that they could continue forever. A grid is fundamentally just a framework, a type of scaffolding onto which I can experiment with pattern and colour. It is a very easy and convenient form onto which an infinite number of expressions can take shape. I can repeat the form infinitely, but each individual work will look completely different depending on the colours or pattern I use. I can also remake the same work, because one of the great things about a grid is that it can be reduced to a code, or a set of instructions. This means that I can destroy work and then make it again and again. The realisation that nothing is ever really lost allows me to be more experimental, to find new artforms, and even to deconstruct work as a type of performance piece. I can be more non-attached to the work, which somehow unburdens each individual piece from the weight of my expectations.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH IDEAS OR FORMS TO PURSUE IN A PIECE AND WHICH TO LEAVE BEHIND?

I have lots of ideas, all the time, but it’s only those that won’t leave me alone that I choose to take seriously. I’ve realised that I have limited physical resources, so bringing everything into existence is impossible. Right now, I’m thinking a lot about furniture, specifically, how to make a chair that is both an artwork and functional, a painting and a sculpture and a place to sit. This is an idea that has been following me around for a few years. I’m hoping that 2026 will be my year of the chair.

ARE THERE OBJECTS, COLOURS, OR TEXTURES THAT CONSISTENTLY APPEAR ACROSS YOUR ART AND YOUR LIFE?

I’ve always been very drawn to natural materials and warm colours – wood, linen, cotton. This year I am using a lot of gold paint and thread in my work – something about the interaction with the surrounding light brings it into the realm of alchemy and magic. I like things that are well made and have a type of logic, but I’m not so into perfection. I really love objects that feel like a human was involved in the making, especially if I know them personally. Obviously, grid patterns are a key feature in my clothes and furnishings!

“IN MY ART PRACTICE, I USE SYSTEMS AND RULES BUT TRY TO KEEP IT OPEN TO INTUITION, AND I ESPECIALLY PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO MY ‘MISTAKES’ AS THEY ARE OFTEN CLUES TO WHERE THE WORK WANTS TO GO. IT’S ALWAYS IMPORTANT THAT THE WORK IS MADE BY HAND BECAUSE IT’S THE ORGANIC ACT OF MAKING THAT INTRODUCES SOME RANDOMNESS AND UNEXPECTEDNESS.”

HOW DOES COLLABORATION, LIKE YOUR WORK WITH LEE MATHEWS, SHAPE THE EVOLUTION OF YOUR PRACTICE?

I’m increasingly drawn to collaborating with like-minded people who are very good at what they do, to produce something new together. Being in a studio making things on my own is great for self-expression, but I get an intense degree of satisfaction in working with others when it comes from a place of generosity, trust, excellence and fun. For the past 2 years, I have been an “artist-in-residence” with my dear friends at Between Lines furniture and bookstore in Sydney. Every 6 months, I update an artwork in response to their space, and then they change their space in response to the artwork. This call and response is very interesting from an artistic perspective – how a single work can evolve over time continuing to be site-responsive. Luckily, they are very trusting of the process, and it’s been a wonderful experience to collaborate on this together. It keeps us both on our toes. Likewise, working with Lee Mathews has been a joy – I’ve worn Lee’s clothes for a long time, and so when she approached me about working together on this collection, it was an obvious yes. Even so, I could not have predicted what would emerge from the paintings and drawings she used. I’m quite obsessed with the “Nina” dresses – it feels like I have officially made it!

HOW DOES YOUR PERSONAL STYLE SHIFT BETWEEN STUDIO, HOME, AND BEING OUT IN THE WORLD?

My personal style is pretty consistent across home and studio and out in the world. I like to be comfortable and relaxed, flat shoes, minimal makeup, modest and covered up. In general, if I could dress like a Japanese teenage boy, I would be happy. Or in anything that feels like pyjamas!

“THE MORE I SLOW THINGS DOWN AND KEEP THINGS SIMPLE, THE BETTER THINGS SEEM TO BE, AND THE EASIER THE WORK SEEMS TO FLOW INTO THE WORLD.”

WHO OR WHAT ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCES OUTSIDE OF THE ART WORLD?

Recently I have been very influenced in my outlook on life by the psychiatrist Stanislav Grof who has mapped out the domain of transpersonal consciousness, and the philosopher Bernardo Kastrup who has provided an intellectual basis for analytical idealism (putting to bed the notion that the world is fundamentally materialist in nature). I’m inspired by Vanessa Bell (the painter, Virgina Woolf’s sister, and member of the Bloomsbury group), less for her artistic output (although I do like her paintings), than for her commitment to an artistic, intellectual and bohemian life. Finally, I look to St Teresa of Avila and Mary Magdalene as examples of highly evolved spiritual beings.

WHEN YOU STEP AWAY FROM YOUR ART, WHAT INSPIRES YOU OR SPARKS IDEAS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS?

In the last couple of years, I’ve learned about the symbolic systems and language of tarot and astrology. My life became immeasurably richer when I began to see symbolic meaning and internal significance everywhere in the world all around me. The esoteric saying, “as within so without, as above so below” is so beautifully captured by these ancient wisdom traditions. As a result, I pay a lot more attention to my dreams, synchronicities and the more hidden side of life. On a more mundane level, I’m endlessly inspired by being in our garden in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. Accepting that I will never get to the end of weeding, that things are constantly growing and decaying, that life is operating according to its own rhythm and season, and that I am fundamentally not in control of any of it, is the greatest spiritual teacher I could hope to have.

CREDITS

Documented by photographer Mia Rankin.

READ PART 1 HERE

PART 2 /  
NINA WALTON, ARTIST, SYDNEY

Overlooking Redleaf Pool sits the Art Deco home of Sydney-based artist Nina Walton. Inside, walls of books line the rooms, covering every subject imaginable, alongside objects gathered from friends and travels. When we arrived, Nina served soba tea in mismatched Japanese cups collected on visits to see her son in Japan. In that moment, it felt less like arriving as guests and more like being welcomed as friends.

For Resort 26, Nina Walton’s original artworks were reimagined as garments, a continuation of her rhythmic and meditative practice. Her process mirrors the motion of weaving, where systems and rules become the foundation for creativity rather than the barrier.

Here, we reflect on her evolving approach to making, our collaboration, and the beauty found in systems, structure and abstraction.

HOW DO THE BOOKS, OBJECTS, AND TRAVEL MEMORIES THAT FILL YOUR HOME INSPIRE OR INFLUENCE YOUR WORK?

Creativity is a delicate state - it doesn’t always want to come out and play. But if I build a beautiful, friendly, protected and supported home and studio, I find that it is easier to get into the right headspace to make work, and actually just to live better and more peacefully. If there is anything I am addicted to, it’s books and travel. I love reading and learning and exploring and moving - being surrounded by books feels like being at “home” wherever that might be. Most of the objects I hang onto are filled with history and memories, collected over the years, often made or given by friends and family. I think all these things help to create a sort of coherence and sense of safety. They are like the background noise that allows for something new to emerge.

WHICH ROUTINES OR RITUALS HELP YOU ENTER A CREATIVE MINDSET?

I’m not great at routines in general, but I’ve tried to create small rituals to help centre me each day. Waking up early, drinking tea in bed, and talking to my husband about what’s going on has become an indispensable part of my day. I’ve also had a daily meditation practice for about 20 years, and many ideas for work come while I’m sitting quietly on a cushion. I’m a big believer in having a proper lunch, so I’ll often meet up with a friend for conversation and connection. Overall, I’m sincerely endeavouring to live life in accordance with a more spiritual, non-attached mindset, receiving inspiration and living in accordance with natural cycles and the inevitable ebbs and flows. This doesn’t always fit with our fast moving, hyper-productive culture, but the more I slow things down and keep things simple, the better things seem to be, and the easier the work seems to flow into the world.

“CREATIVITY IS A DELICATE STATE — IT DOESN’T ALWAYS WANT TO COME OUT AND PLAY. BUT IF I BUILD A BEAUTIFUL, FRIENDLY, PROTECTED AND SUPPORTED HOME AND STUDIO, I FIND IT EASIER TO GET INTO THE RIGHT HEADSPACE TO MAKE WORK, AND ACTUALLY JUST TO LIVE BETTER AND MORE PEACEFULLY.”

YOU MOVED FROM LAW AND ECONOMICS INTO ART; A TRANSITION FROM RULES AND SYSTEMS TO INTUITION AND MAKING. HOW DOES THIS JOURNEY CONTINUE TO SHAPE THE WORK YOU CREATE?

In my art practice, I use systems and rules but try to keep it open to intuition, and I especially pay close attention to my “mistakes” as they are often clues to where the work wants to go. It’s always important that the work is made by hand because it’s the organic act of making that introduces some randomness and unexpectedness. I like the sense of human connection that arises across time and space when you know that an actual person made something rather than a machine.

I’ve been surprised at how much working within a set of constraints has expanded my practice. For example, while I almost always use a grid of some kind, I’m quite agnostic about the medium I employ. I will happily make a painting, or produce a book, or make a piece of furniture or sculpture. To me, they are all speaking the same language and are part of the same family of work. So, limitations paradoxically open all sorts of other avenues that would have been invisible otherwise.

GRIDS, RULES, AND REPETITION ARE KEY IN YOUR PRACTICE. HOW DO THEY INTERACT WITH INTUITION AND EXPERIMENTATION?

I love grids – they make me feel happy and calm. There is an order, a structure, a balance. They connect into the worlds of games, weaving and textiles, mathematics, modernist art, conceptual art, and computer coding. They are simultaneously enclosing and expansive in that they could continue forever. A grid is fundamentally just a framework, a type of scaffolding onto which I can experiment with pattern and colour. It is a very easy and convenient form onto which an infinite number of expressions can take shape. I can repeat the form infinitely, but each individual work will look completely different depending on the colours or pattern I use. I can also remake the same work, because one of the great things about a grid is that it can be reduced to a code, or a set of instructions. This means that I can destroy work and then make it again and again. The realisation that nothing is ever really lost allows me to be more experimental, to find new artforms, and even to deconstruct work as a type of performance piece. I can be more non-attached to the work, which somehow unburdens each individual piece from the weight of my expectations.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH IDEAS OR FORMS TO PURSUE IN A PIECE AND WHICH TO LEAVE BEHIND?

I have lots of ideas, all the time, but it’s only those that won’t leave me alone that I choose to take seriously. I’ve realised that I have limited physical resources, so bringing everything into existence is impossible. Right now, I’m thinking a lot about furniture, specifically, how to make a chair that is both an artwork and functional, a painting and a sculpture and a place to sit. This is an idea that has been following me around for a few years. I’m hoping that 2026 will be my year of the chair.

ARE THERE OBJECTS, COLOURS, OR TEXTURES THAT CONSISTENTLY APPEAR ACROSS YOUR ART AND YOUR LIFE?

I’ve always been very drawn to natural materials and warm colours – wood, linen, cotton. This year I am using a lot of gold paint and thread in my work – something about the interaction with the surrounding light brings it into the realm of alchemy and magic. I like things that are well made and have a type of logic, but I’m not so into perfection. I really love objects that feel like a human was involved in the making, especially if I know them personally. Obviously, grid patterns are a key feature in my clothes and furnishings!

“IN MY ART PRACTICE, I USE SYSTEMS AND RULES BUT TRY TO KEEP IT OPEN TO INTUITION, AND I ESPECIALLY PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO MY ‘MISTAKES’ AS THEY ARE OFTEN CLUES TO WHERE THE WORK WANTS TO GO. IT’S ALWAYS IMPORTANT THAT THE WORK IS MADE BY HAND BECAUSE IT’S THE ORGANIC ACT OF MAKING THAT INTRODUCES SOME RANDOMNESS AND UNEXPECTEDNESS.”

HOW DOES COLLABORATION, LIKE YOUR WORK WITH LEE MATHEWS, SHAPE THE EVOLUTION OF YOUR PRACTICE?

I’m increasingly drawn to collaborating with like-minded people who are very good at what they do, to produce something new together. Being in a studio making things on my own is great for self-expression, but I get an intense degree of satisfaction in working with others when it comes from a place of generosity, trust, excellence and fun. For the past 2 years, I have been an “artist-in-residence” with my dear friends at Between Lines furniture and bookstore in Sydney. Every 6 months, I update an artwork in response to their space, and then they change their space in response to the artwork. This call and response is very interesting from an artistic perspective – how a single work can evolve over time continuing to be site-responsive. Luckily, they are very trusting of the process, and it’s been a wonderful experience to collaborate on this together. It keeps us both on our toes. Likewise, working with Lee Mathews has been a joy – I’ve worn Lee’s clothes for a long time, and so when she approached me about working together on this collection, it was an obvious yes. Even so, I could not have predicted what would emerge from the paintings and drawings she used. I’m quite obsessed with the “Nina” dresses – it feels like I have officially made it!

HOW DOES YOUR PERSONAL STYLE SHIFT BETWEEN STUDIO, HOME, AND BEING OUT IN THE WORLD?

My personal style is pretty consistent across home and studio and out in the world. I like to be comfortable and relaxed, flat shoes, minimal makeup, modest and covered up. In general, if I could dress like a Japanese teenage boy, I would be happy. Or in anything that feels like pyjamas!

“THE MORE I SLOW THINGS DOWN AND KEEP THINGS SIMPLE, THE BETTER THINGS SEEM TO BE, AND THE EASIER THE WORK SEEMS TO FLOW INTO THE WORLD.”

WHO OR WHAT ARE YOUR MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCES OUTSIDE OF THE ART WORLD?

Recently I have been very influenced in my outlook on life by the psychiatrist Stanislav Grof who has mapped out the domain of transpersonal consciousness, and the philosopher Bernardo Kastrup who has provided an intellectual basis for analytical idealism (putting to bed the notion that the world is fundamentally materialist in nature). I’m inspired by Vanessa Bell (the painter, Virgina Woolf’s sister, and member of the Bloomsbury group), less for her artistic output (although I do like her paintings), than for her commitment to an artistic, intellectual and bohemian life. Finally, I look to St Teresa of Avila and Mary Magdalene as examples of highly evolved spiritual beings.

WHEN YOU STEP AWAY FROM YOUR ART, WHAT INSPIRES YOU OR SPARKS IDEAS IN UNEXPECTED WAYS?

In the last couple of years, I’ve learned about the symbolic systems and language of tarot and astrology. My life became immeasurably richer when I began to see symbolic meaning and internal significance everywhere in the world all around me. The esoteric saying, “as within so without, as above so below” is so beautifully captured by these ancient wisdom traditions. As a result, I pay a lot more attention to my dreams, synchronicities and the more hidden side of life. On a more mundane level, I’m endlessly inspired by being in our garden in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. Accepting that I will never get to the end of weeding, that things are constantly growing and decaying, that life is operating according to its own rhythm and season, and that I am fundamentally not in control of any of it, is the greatest spiritual teacher I could hope to have.

CREDITS

Documented by photographer Mia Rankin.

READ PART 1 HERE