Touring works offer diversity
A TOURING exhibition that traverses the landscape through different approaches to printmaking, a body of work that explores the mother/artist relationship and a video installation that supports and illustrates a doctoral submission offer a smorgasbord of techniques that underpin thoughtprovoking imagery.
THE TOOWOOMBA REGIONAL ART GALLERY
is hosting “As far as the eye can see”, a printmaking exhibition from the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery.
It is the first touring exhibition initiated by this gallery and it is truly a winner.
The title implies a limitless panorama and the 22 participating artists have addressed this quality not only in their response to the land but also in the way they have pushed the traditional boundaries of printmaking to create statements of place.
Environmental issues from climate change, mining, and desecration of natural habitats, to the steady incursion of urban development transcend cultural differences as art becomes a vehicle of reconciliation dedicated to a universal theme.
Julie Paterson’s re-working of her own commercially printed fabrics, Janet Parker-Smith’s boxed hybrid, and Helen Meuller’s sea-water etched plates creating intaglio prints and cast paper bowls carry subtle surface textures that show innovative interpretations of printmaking techniques.
Dorothy Napangardi’s black and white dot patterns commune with the pitted tarmac of Susanna Castleden’s bold Bitumen Landscape (Indian Ocean Drive).
Locust Jones buried etched steel plates allowing nature to further the process, both the plates and the resulting prints add a tactile element to the display.
The dramatic curtain of wood cut prints by Gary Shinfield document the passage of coal trains.
Linear details link the works by Judy Watson and Gary Jolley to the printed huon pine off cut installation by Antonia Aitkin.
The exhibition is a rewarding viewer experience.
THE ARTS GALLERY
at the University of Southern Queensland is showing the exhibition Tethered: Embodying the Mother-Artist Model.
Six artists have made artworks that in some way relate to their identity as mothers.
This practice-based research has been part of a project driven by Linda Clark, a Doctor of Creative Arts candidate at USQ.
The artworks seek to negotiate a journey through sometimes treacherous parallel universes.
The roles of mother and artist are both creative.
They are often conflicted and time poor, juggling guilt and joy, liberation and restriction.
The artists Linda Clark, Rhi Johnson, Christine Mills-Kelly, Susan Shantz, Alex Stalling, and Joanne Stead have worked across the areas of painting, printmaking, sculpture, and video.
They have produced emotional and honest statements embracing and defining the privilege of experience.
THE RED DOOR GALLERY
at USQ provides the setting for Linda Clark’s Doctor of Creative Arts exhibition.
This video installation examines the places of artist and mother in an ever-changing relationship.
The bonds that tether bear the reluctant weight of responsibility in the liminal space between nature and nurture.