Exhibiting at
Chalke Valley History Festival
June 2026
Nic
Ledger
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Exhibiting at
Chalke Valley History Festival
June 2026
I'm an oil painter based in Shrewsbury. I've always been drawn to history, understanding who we are through the connections it draws, cultural, political, spiritual and through the everyday.
I work from objects, images and photographs that hold particular resonance, trying to capture something of the deeper meaning they carry.
Where We Are From is a series of oil paintings of figurative sculptures from our ancient and prehistoric past: the Löwenmensch, the Venus of Willendorf, a Cycladic figure, a Sumerian votive figure, an Olmec head. These objects are between 3,000 and 40,000 years old. I'm interested in what happens when you paint them as portraits rather than artefacts. What they look like when you give them your full attention. And what they might make of the world they're now looking out into.
No. 01
Oil on canvas · 61 × 61 cm · 2026
Palaeolithic fertility figure, circa 28,000 BCE. Limestone. Natural History Museum, Vienna.
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No. 02
Oil on canvas · 2024
The oldest known figurative sculpture, carved from mammoth ivory approximately 40,000 years ago. Found in the Swabian Jura, Germany.
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No. 03
Oil on canvas · 2026
Colossal Olmec head at the moment of excavation. Mesoamerica, circa 1200–400 BCE. Basalt stone.
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No. 04
Oil on canvas · 59.4 × 80 cm · 2026
Foundation figure of King Shulgi carrying a basket. Copper. c. 2094–2047 BC. Mesopotamia, Nippur. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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No. 05
Oil on canvas · 2026
Cycladic figure. Marble. 2500–2400 BC. Cyclades, Greece.
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Long Grass
Second Wave
Tim Platt
Polly and May
Strong Girls Club
Discover
For enquiries about work, commissions, or upcoming exhibitions:
ledger.nic@googlemail.comJune 2026, Broad Chalke, Wiltshire
Works from the current series on display.
Contact for further details.