Sydney Printmakers 2018
03 - 24 February 2018

 

Sydney Printmakers 2018 is an exhibition of recent work from a selection of Australia´s top artist printmakers in both traditional and contemporary practice.

Sydney Printmakers are represented in major Australian Public collections including: The Art Gallery of NSW, The National Gallery of Australia, plus many Australian Regional Gallery and International public collections.

Sydney Printmakers 2018 was opened by
Hannah Hutchison
Assistant Curator, Australian Prints, Drawings and Watercolours
Art Gallery of New South Wales

on Sunday 4th February 2018.

This exhibition celebrates the unique hands on nature of artist printmaking, an often labour intensive and time consuming creative process to achieve a unique image,an artist book, or a strictly limited multiple or artist edition of highly collectable original artworks.

In an increasingly disposable world of "giclee" or digital reproductions of works created in another medium, it is a pleasure to exhibit Artist-made originals that have involved the unique hand of the artist at every decision stage of their creation.
These works are not reproductions of another work made by the artist - these are original artworks conceived wholly with the intention (or not as the artist whims), of editioning utilising both traditional and contemporary multiple or printmaking processes that are both all consuming and require a meticuluous attention to detail and process to complete.
Often challenging traditional notions of the multiple, this exhibition explores the range of current contemporary artist practice.
Original Artist multiples are a great opportunity to purchase an original collectible piece of Australian art from highly reputable artists whose integrity and dedication to their work is clearly seen in this exhibition.

Exhibiting Sydney Printmakers include: Andy Totman | Angela Hayson | Angus Fisher* | Anna Russell | Anthea Boesenberg | Barbara Davidson | Ben Rak | Bernhardine Mueller | Carolyn Craig | Cheryle Yin Lo | Edith Cowlishaw | Gary Shinfield | George Lo Grasso | Graham Marchant | Helen Best | Joanne Gwatkin Williams | Katherine Kennedy | Laura Stark | Michael Kempson | Mieke Cohen | Nathalie Hartog Gautier | Neil Clarke | Olivia Wilson | Prue Crabbe | Rew Hanks** | Robyn Waghorn | Roz Kean | Sandi Rigby | Seraphina Martin | Susan Baran | Susan Ruthforth | Tanya Crothers | Thea Weiss | Tina Barahanos | Wendy Stokes | Marta Romer.

*Courtesy Australian Galleries.
**Courtesy Watters Galleries.

 
Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Tina Barahanos´ practice is multi-disciplinary, centred around the iconography of the everyday. "I depict ordinary and unassuming scenes that are likely to go unnoticed... It is within these fleeting observations.. that strengthen... the familiar.. (and) place emphasis on.. transform(ing) the prosaic into still, harmoniously composed images that give the humdrum new life." Barahanos has been a finalist in the Fremantle Print Award, The Stanthorpe Art Prize & the Paramor Art Prize and was awarded the 2015 Blacktown Arts Centre studio residency and the 2017 Wyndham Art Prize.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"With a family background involved in playing and watching sport, I was interested to work with the subject "Grandstand". Using etching collagraph and watercolour I have produced several editions of prints and artist's book on the subject of sport." Barbara Davidson 2017.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"Not many years ago I had the opportunity to visit and explore Fraser Island in Queensland, about half way north of the island is the wreck of the Maheno, a ship that was washed ashore by a cyclone in 1935. What is fascinating, is how the ship has rusted into a sculptural piece... the deep shadows, the texture all add to this hulk." George Lo Grasso 2017.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"In recent years my art practise has returned to the landscape and in particular along banks, shores, cliffs and sandy creek beds. The experience of sitting quietly drawing along a vast and remote winding river is my form of complete meditation." Mieke Cohen
Works are held in many Public Colections in Australia, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Private collections internationally.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Through the detailed study of history and natural subject matter, Angus Fisher´s* work grapples with the idea of how nature exists in human imagination. Primarily working in etching and drawing, he utilises traditional working techniques, methodologies and aesthetics to place his work in direct connection to natural historical contexts and traditions. Fisher recently worked in conjunction with antiquarian collector and publisher Nicholas Pounder, on an extensive artist book project titled "Imaginary Creatures", and more recently, completed "The Birds of New Holland", which investigates and re-imagines Australia´s earliest printed folio (1808) by colonial artist J.W Lewin.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Marta Romer was born in Budapest, grew up in Montréal, and studied at the École des Beaux Arts in Geneva, before finding her way to Sydney. She started as a printmaker in the discipline of etching but soon embraced alternative practices, incorporating hand-drawn, photographic and typographic elements, and the use of photopolymer (solar) plates for intaglio printing. More recently this hybrid approach has extended across traditional and digital processes, and her imagery explores the deliberate ambiguity of the medium to produce a luminous, printed surface. Her work is represented in public and private collections in Australia, Europe and North America.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Bernhardine Mueller is a Printmaker who likes the excitement of exploring the layering technique of combining relief and intaglio printmaking processes to form her own imaginative narratives. Her work addresses environmental sustainability and her personal ideas to preserve Nature for the future. Trained in traditional etching techniques, Bernhardine exhibits widely, and her work is held in Public Collections including The Australian National Gallery and AGNSW.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"This etching is a response to a section of the rugged landscape around a waterhole visited near Borroloola in the gulf area of the Northern Territory´s Limmen Bight River Region. The anthropomorphic sandstone structures along the water’s edge are intended to symbolise ‘Guardians’ protecting a place of spiritual significance and a life source that was critical to the survival of the Australian Aboriginal people." Angela Hayson 2017.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Seraphina Martin originally studied traditional intaglio printmaking at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris before relocating to work in the Sydney University Tin Sheds Studios. Awarded the 1988 AGNSW Moya Dyring Studio in Paris, Seraphina studied viscosity printing techniques under William Hayter at Atelier 17. In 1994 she was introduced to Solar Plate etching by American artist Dan Welden and has become recognised as a teacher of this process. Recently Seraphina undertook artist in residencies at The Government College of Art, Calcutta and The Kola Bhavan University, Shantineketan , West Bengal India. Represented in Private and Public Collections in Australia and Internationally.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Susan Baran´s solar-plate works are lyrical reiterations of natural and man-made beauty. "Much of my inspiration comes from nature focusing on flowers, gardens and landscape; but also I look at the beauty of the man-made through architecture especially interiors, patterned surfaces, fabrics, wallpapers... I take photographs then use Photopolymer plates (Solar-plates)... I choose to step away from the clarity and detail of the photograph process aiming for a softer type of photographic effect." Susan´s work is represented in private and Public Collections in Australia, including ArtBank, NGA, Canberra, Central Queensland University Art Collection, AGNSW, and MAGAM, Sydney.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Of her work Katherine Kennedy comments, "my work has typically explored notions of balance and structure to varying degrees between subtle and exaggerated. I find objects displaying precarious equilibrium significantly beautiful in their transient state. Embracing alternative materials has led to a diverse approach in processes and yields unexpected results. Luck, chance and happy accidents often lead to a final piece... " Katherine has exhibited in Australia Spain, Italy, Pakistan, Singapore, China and New Zealand.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Carolyn Craig is an interdisciplinary artist examining how power is articulated, within and through, the body and language. Her studio practice archives photo remnants from performative "acts". This material is then re-contextualised through print processes to destabilize its normative representational value as social collateral. Carolyn has been an exhibition finalist in many prizes including the Churchie, Freemantle, Burnie, Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, and The Bangkok Drawing and Print Triennial.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Australian based artist printmaker, Thea Weiss, was born in Denver, Colorado. After a 20 year career in fashion illustration and writing in New York, Thea returned to university completing a BFA in painting at Sydney´s National Art School and an MA in printmaking at UNSW Art & Design (COFA). She has held solo & group exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Wellington, New Zealand, US, China and Taiwan.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"Having formerly been an etcher, constraints with traditional printmaking have led me into digital printmaking. This is an exciting world where anything is possible and the process of transforming images is constantly challenging. The current images are part of a series concerning the effects of global warming, concentrating on the outcomes of rising sea levels and their ramifications for cities, islands and seashores. They form a sort of elegy for what has been and subsequently cannot be retrieved." Prue Crabbe 2017.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"My recent practice seeks to re-examine the idea of authenticity in the age of mass production, mass media and reproduction. I combine printmaking and reproductive processes with handmade techniques to seek out connections between repetition, replication, uniqueness and authentic artistic authorship. How can the print be used as metaphor to scrutinize authenticity in the age of mass production and to what extent does reproducibility need to conceal itself in order to pass as original?" Ben Rak 2017.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

For Wendy Stokes, the print medium "provides a platform for drawing... as a way of finding... an engagement with the navigation of line and materiality of mark.. (and) further opens possibilities afforded by its nature of repetition." Wendy Stokes´ work draws on an intimate connection to her coastal environment, exploring daily ritual and memory, linked to sites of personal meaning. Works are held in private and Public collections including AGNSW and NGA, Canberra.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018

Sydney Printmaker, Neilton Clarke, has been based in Japan since 1994, much of his printing is done by hand using a ′baren′, without the aid of a printing press. The key compositional elements of his work rests on the juggling of the curvilinear and the rectilinear – the natural and the architectonic – in counterpoint. Representational incidentals are kept in check by the predominantly abstracted treatment, and the utilisation of the woodblocks´ planar and textural qualities. Represented in numerous Public collections, including The NGA, The AGNSW, University of NSW, Macquarie University, Cité des Arts (Paris), The Australian Embassy (Bangkok), Silpakorn University, Mahanakorn University of Technology (Bangkok), Akiruno City Collection (Tokyo), and Machida Museum of Graphic Arts (Tokyo).

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Laura Stark ´s work reflects her life experiences; themes of identity and disconnection, the New Zealand and the Australian landscape constantly reappear. Her preferred medium is now the collagraph, a painterly approach to printmaking which reflects her love of the texture and colour in nature. Her studio workshop is located close to the Royal National Park, on Sydney´ southern fringe. In 2011 she undertook the Skopelos Foundation Workshop with Basil Hall in Greece, and was the recipient of the 2007 Artist residency, Scuola Internazionale Grafica, in Venice.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Anthea Boesenberg is a printmaker primarily concerned with surface and materiality. This has led her to explore alternative techniques and media, such as rusting, burning, encaustic, stitching, and cutting. The use of paper is a constant. She has moved almost entirely away from editioning, but continues to use printmaking processes in her work.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Olivia Wilson uses walking in the landscape as a meditative process to facilitate the consolidation of ideas and experience. This primal state of being in nature offers an imaginative freedom, pivotal in discovering the essence of a landscape. She then uses intaglio print processes to describe those places. Olivia has exhibited her work in Sydney, Pakistan, the Netherlands, America and New Zealand.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"My prints are about the landscape..." says Robyn Waghorn of her recent work. After discovering printmaking late in her career, Robyn Waghorn found the dense blacks of lino relief printing most satisfying. Robyn´s mark making describes her emotional link with the starkness of the landscape; a space pared back, devoid of detail; inviting the viewer to map their own memories on to the dense lines and solid shapes.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Joanne Gwatkin-Williams´ techniques include etching, collagraph, relief, silkscreen and monotype; she also loves to use papier maché. Her influences reflect the family background of gardeners, artists, musicians and writers; her style travels between the abstract and the graphic and is influenced by nature, music and literature and frequently returns to her memory of treasures that filled her great aunt´s Manor house "St George´s" in England.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Anna Russell appreciates the collaborative aspects of printmaking, and lately she has been printing on stained paper, sometimes with an encaustic surface. "As a printmaker, I am drawn to etching for how it allows me to make and remake a plate - marking, scraping and returning the plate to the acid for one last chance to get it just that little bit closer to its true destination. Or resurrect it to go in a different direction." Russell is exhibiting in the 5th International Open Printmaking Show 2017/18 in Wharepuke, NZ.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Texture holds a particular appeal for Sandi Rigby, the depth and feel of rocks,and the detail in seashells, grasses, plant life and wildlife are seen in her delicately drawn images and finely etched prints. These new works reference Rigby´s recent travels in Tasmania, in beautifully executed drawings etched into zinc plates capturing her personal observations.
Sandi Rigby is represented in many Public, Corporate and Private collections in Australia and Internationally.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"I am currently using collagraphs to explore the forest, a subject to which I return often... drawn by the dominance of strong, repetitive vertical elements that are sometimes unpredictably criss-crossed by other natural features." says Tanya Crothers of her recent work. "I find that the medium of collagraphy helps the print to take on the rough-hewn quality of the bush and forest and combines well with the addition of hand colour in some instances."

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Michael Kempson´s current prints extend ideas explored following a residency at Taronga Zoo, where the gift-shop soft-toy animals became satirical metaphors for nation states engaged in geopolitics and cold conflict. Amigos and Friends (2017), are woodcuts produced during a recent residency at Alfred University in New York.
Kempson´s work is represented in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Bangkok, Thailand; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei; National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; plus many Australian State and Regional Galleries.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Andrew Totman´s abstract patterns imply a subtle movement, a muted pulse, that challenges the concept of solid surface in intricately executed mezzotints. Totman´ works are held in major public, private and university collections from the USA, Canada, Australia, Morocco, Germany, Great Britain, France, Korea, Japan, Finland, Norway, Monaco, Mexico, Argentina, Venezuela, and China.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Gary Shinfield, Paths #1-4, 2017, woodcut, 56x76cm. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

"Recent images explore the idea of mapping journeys... This image began with four pieces of plywood, cut with numerous lines following the contour of plateau, valley and cliff – features of the landscape in the Blue Mountains NSW. The four blocks were printed and over printed onto hand made Thai paper. When placed beside each other a new configuration of lines was created, tracing internal and external spaces.
Gary Shinfield´s work is held in Public Collections including The Australian National Gallery and AGNSW.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Cheryle Yin-Lo lives in the Blue Mountains, NSW and her work is inspired by living in a World Heritage area and the changing landscapes and seasons. She is currently documenting the transformation of rural landscapes and urbanisation in Western Sydney. Cheryle’s work is represented in Public and Private collections in Australia and Internationally.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Roslyn Kean specialises in relief printing and the contemporary application of Traditional Japanese techniques with pigment-stained water. "Roslyn´s woodblocks possess a serentiy and simplicity which borders on minimalism, but are totally devoid of any severity. Instead there is a deep musicality and profound sense of simplicity and order." (Dr Sasha Grishin, August 2013.)
Roslyn is represented in international and Australian collections including the Art Gallery of NSW, Australian National Gallery and private collections throughout the world.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Rew Hanks** offers one of his wry takes on our cultural and sporting history with his linocut, Playing for Keeps. Paying homage to the 1743 Francis Hayman painting Cricket on the Artillery Ground, Rew´s post-colonial mashup sees Captain James Cook challenging an Australian Aboriginal team, where the winner keeps possession of Australia. Rew´s bowling team was a real indigenous team (Dick-a-Dick and Two-Penny are seen behind Cook) that was actually the first Australian team to tour England in 1868. The bowler, Johnny Cuzens is bowling a deceptive bodyline delivery. The English botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, seated in the foreground keeps score, closely supervised by Mary Wollstonecraft, while Germaine Greer waits her turn to bat. Beside her, Truganini draws attention to Nova Peris in the outfield while indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes wicket keeps.
Rew Hanks is represented in Public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of South Australia and many State Regional gallery collections.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Graham Marchant says, "My work is based on the close searching observation of the object and the natural world. I have a particular interest in organised spaces, gardens and in pattern. The images are determined by the locations I choose, the still lives I construct and the interplay of light. These issues are demonstrated by my preoccupation with the interaction between the interior to the exterior..."
Graham´s work is represented in many Public and corporate collections including the Cheltenham Art Gallery UK; Art Bank; New Parliament House, Canberra; Australian Maritime Museum, Sydney and the University of Central England, Birmingham, UK. (View Artist Profile)

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Edith Cowlishaw has been long recognised as a master Australian Artist printmaker. A recognition that has been gained over a lifetime of dedication to the technique of etching and her enduring bush walking passion. This relationship with the native flora and bush landscape of Australia is evoked in her detailed intaglio drawings of the delicate native plants and flowers, often overlooked, hidden in the undergrowth of the bush.Edith is represented in international and Australian collections including the Art Gallery of NSW, Australian National Gallery and private collections throughout the world including the collection of the Japanese Royal Family. (View Artist Profile)

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Helen Best is currently working with multiple wood blocks and sometimes lino, concentrating on the traditional practice utilising waterbased inks. "Colour is important to me, sensitive and mellow or vivid contrasts in more abstract works."
Helen is represented in Public Print collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales,and many State Regional gallery collections.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

For Susan Rushforth, inspiration for this exhibition is found in the ephemeral nature of passing clouds over Pittwater. She has held solo shows in Japan and Australia, exhibiting regularly in group shows in Australia, Asia, Europe and America. Works are held in private and Public collections including AGNSW, Stanthorpe Art Gallery, Queensland, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney, The International Collection of Graphic Art, Cremona Civic Museum, Italy and at the Printmaking Museum of Douro, Portugal.

Sydney Printmakers 2018. Artsite Contemporary Galleries 03 - 24 February 2018.

Nathalie Hartog-Gautier´s practice focuses on the concept of the voyage, its transformations, attachments and associations, especially when place interconnects with memory and identity. Hartog-Gautier was recipient of numerous Australian and International residencies including, the 2009 Dr Denise Hickey AGNSW Paris and the Studio and Cité Internationale des Arts Studios. Works are held in Public Collections in Australia, USA, Norway, France and Bulgaria.