I have also studied the compositions of sandwiches, jokes, and crossword puzzles, as a means of thinking about how the how can become the what.
–Nick Austin, On Appetib, 2007, Artspace Aotearoa.

Austin’s editions for Artspace Aotearoa exemplify his exploration of the concrete poetry in the benign, presenting depictions of still lifes. His materials function as ideas of form, arrangements of found ingredients and materials, contained and open images which wait for the reader to articulate their existence.

Nick Austin’s, (b. 1979, Whangarei) practice creates poetry from even the most banal, utilising newspaper, socks, loose change and found objects. Austin sees his sculptural works as compositions, something to be sounded out, tested by the eye, and rolled around in the mind. Austin’s work evades easy interpretation, lightly and eccentrically aligning objects, and coalescing material qualities to create possibilities for new poetic significance.