I am naturally drawn to using bold colours in my work that I apply to the canvas with quite gestural marks using everything from brushes to my hands to create an image. For me the colour represents passion for all the beauty of nature and the movement of paint on the canvas is like the dance of life. The surrounding bushland of my home is the main focus of my paintings in which I spend a lot of time exploring and absorbing the many nuances of my subject. The work is an expression of the intimate relationship we have with nature, the human narrative we impose upon it and its ability to define us. This work, ‘Time for Clarity’ is about the positive impact COVID-19 has had on the environment, cleaner air, clearer skies and waters. It has opened the door to future possibilities, a glimpse of the ecological value of taking a more thoughtful and measured approach to the way we consume, it's slowed down time and given us a chance to be more introspective.

This work was originally commissioned in 2020 by Nillumbik Shire Council for the exhibition 'Art in the time of COVID-19'.

Vipoo Srivilasa works predominantly in ceramics, creating unique contemporary porcelain sculptures, vessels and figures to transmit a universal message of cross-cultural experience. His works explore similarities between the cultures of homeland, Thailand and his adoptive home, Australia. His work is both a playful, and at times a political, blend of historical figurative and decorative art practices with contemporary culture. For more than 20 years, Vipoo has exhibited both internationally and throughout Australia, including Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Saatchi Gallery, London; Ayala Museum, Philippines; Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan; Nanjing Arts Institute, China and the National Gallery of Thailand. His work is held in national and international collections including the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, GOMA, and the Craft Council, UK.

I create contemporary 'memento mori' that raise our curiosity through the use of paradoxical processes and materials. While all of my creatures have died a natural death, they live on as beautiful and compelling allegories, begging a reflection on our symbiotic but decidedly unequal relationship with the animal world. My practice questions our established societal paradigms around animals and asks why we divide them into arbitrary categories: food, pets, pests, transport, entertainment and endangered/protected species. The theme 'place and space' is addressed by the hollow space within the rabbit's ribcage and the gem-encrusted heart that is placed within.

Nillumbik Prize Contemporary Art 2019 open prize winner

REMNANT BLESSINGS-I reflects on the assortment of memories acquired over the years. We rarely remember events in their entirety; we are left with the remnants from the past. These fragmented elements make up the structure of this work.

Nillumbik Prize Contemporary Art 2021 local winning artwork

When I first returned to our family plantations in Bảo Lộc Vietnam, I was given a handful of tea seeds by my late grandmother. Returning to Australia, my family managed to propagate a line of tea plants and seedlings which they still swap and trade with family friends and neighbours; maintaining a culture of storytelling, care and entrepreneurship that has helped them survive both war and political exile.

Nillumbik Prize Contemporary Art 2021 winning open artwork

Moving Image

Score for Multi-Species Partnerships is a participatory performance and moving image assemblage. The score offers a guided framework to become reacquainted with the everyday, queering notions of community and care through meditative movement practice. Inter-species collaborators partake in a series of propositions which facilitate a ‘becoming-with’, deepening their sense of place and comfort with one another and their environment.Seeking alternative forms of connection during isolation, this global project uses embodied praxis and visualisation to bring together artists and non-artists, humans and non-humans, to consider how we co-exist and affect one another through material and energetic transference. Initiated in April 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak, participants chose whether to practise anonymously or document their experience and contribute to the visual archive. The private becomes public as intimate encounters in domestic settings are shared, speaking to cultures of performativity and voyeurism in the digital age. Artist/Director: Luigi Vescio. Performers: Adina Kraus, Anna McDermott, Claudia Lomoschitz, Josh Freedman, Luigi Vescio, Martin Lee, Maximilian Bishop, Melanie Cobham, Nathan Dubber, Niharika Senapati, Omar Felix Faber, Pia Lauritz, Rachel Jessie-Rae O’Connor, Shamira Stone, Will Hall, Yuiko Masukawa.Many thanks also to those who chose to participate in private.This project was also supported by Creative Victoria through the Sustaining Creative Workers initiative.

Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council as part of the Art in the Time of Covid project which invited artists to create artworks that reflect the pandemic and the artists' personal experiences of it.

Video

Leaving Isolation is play on words; a pun. It is a joke shared with new imaginary friends found while living alone, in isolation. Processing emotions, sanitising theories, engaging in shadow play; these works show individual native leaves that resemble expressive faces collected on permitted daily walks. 30 small, 15 x 21 cm still life studies in ink and watercolour are hung to reference a calendar month during COVID-19. The work considers the nature of ecology in the anthropocene while confronting emergent psychological myth-scapes during Lockdown.

Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council as part of the Art in the Time of Covid project which invited artists to create artworks that reflect the pandemic and the artists' personal experiences of it.

‘Relax, We’re Doing Great’ explores the mixed messages and lottery of language we have been exposed to during COVID19. Sourced from local and global leaders, warning signs and public messages, the text ranges from instructional to in-denial; to even epidemiologically dangerous rhetoric.These works connect into the hand-made, digital and 24/7 news cycles - key coping mechanisms for fears and uncertainty - of this pandemic period. The power and importance of language is highlighted when experienced en masse. The repetition of the layout of these works also allows for the creation of GIFs – mimicking the flickering of LED signage.

Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council as part of the Art in the Time of Covid project which invited artists to create artworks that reflect the pandemic and the artists' personal experiences of it.

Isolation is something I am all too familiar with.In the middle of the last decade, for a period of three years, isolation became my way of living, as due to my health, I physically couldn’t leave the house, or even my bed very often. I would be so desperate to get out of the house at times that it was if I was a prisoner trying to escape the confines of Alcatraz. The isolation experience during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought back many emotions and memories of that time, some of which I would rather not remember.

Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council as part of the Art in the Time of Covid project which invited artists to create artworks that reflect the pandemic and the artists' personal experiences of it.

Under the doona investigates the creative potential of observing the domestic environment and connecting with the local landscape within the restrictions of COVID-19 in 2020. The global pandemic is explored from a personal domestic and local position on Wurundjeri Country in Nillumbik in my 5km radius.Universally recognisable as a symbol of hygiene, the Chux cloth was discovered discarded and coated in Nillumbik’s infamous clay on my daily walk. Local Indigofera Australis was used to extract ‘Chux blue’ to botanically dye hand spun silk and Polwarth yarn. Not a scratchy synthetic Chux, my handwoven natural fibre soft cloth positions soothing touch as an all-important sense within the physical constraints of social distancing. My masked daughter holds her pet rooster. My son learns new card tricks using crackers. Family and local surrounds provide close and reassuring comfort. The project values intimacy, touch and local connectedness. On a global scale.

Commissioned by Nillumbik Shire Council as part of the Art in the Time of Covid project which invited artists to create artworks that reflect the pandemic and the artists' personal experiences of it

This painting was sparked by a US studio residency at Yellowstone National Park, shortly after Trump’s election. In America, Chin witnessed conservative nationalism and divisiveness, but also an equal reaction promoting diversity and challenging structural inequality. Developing this work in Australia, Chin examined how a sense of place forms fluidly in the consciousness, to surpass geographic borderlines.

Kevin Chin is a local artist. He has been a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art (2015, 2019). In this painting Chin explores economic, cultural and social structures that shape the world in which we live, questioning who has built what, who takes ownership, and who has the right to the land.

Landscape painting depicting a house (upside down) and a half finished urban structure sitting amongst mountain peaks and land that has been cleared and immersed in fog/smoke.

N/A

landscape, kevin, chin, structural, inequality, castle, trump, painting, nillumbik, residency, yellowstone, realism, oils

Recipient of the Local Prize, Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Art 2019. The imprints of eucalyptus ficifolia, eucalyptus polyanthemus, grevilia robusta and casuarina verticillata onto woollen blankets. They tell a story of home and comfort, of legacy and place, of connection and continuity.

Large wall hanging comprised of strips of recycled woollen blankets stitched together. Each strip has been printed (eco dyed) with organic matter local to the Shire of Nillumbik

N/A

eco dying, wool, blanket, wall hanging, environment, botanical printing, nillumbik prize, local prize recipient, eucalyptus ficifolia, eucalyptus polyanthemus, grevilia robusta, casuarina verticillata, nillumbik, karena goldfinch

Nillumbik Prize finalist (2018, 2016, 2015, 2014). The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. Abstract sculpture inspired by the artist attending a local ceremony in Nillumbik to harvest tubers of the Murnong (yam daisy), a traditional staple of the Wurundjeri people. Wirth was also inspired by the writing of Bruce Pascoe. Wirth works intuitively with awareness that meaning may be deciphered through the combination of material/mediums/techniques that she uses randomly. Through the process of experimentation and automatism Wirth allows her work to evolve organically. Wirth is represented in public art collections including: Victorian College of the Arts, Victorian Performing Arts Centre and Ararat Regional Gallery. She also completed a residency at Laughing Waters in 2012.

Yellow abstract sculpture woven into a vessel with long tentacles using cotton yarn.

N/A

finalist, nillumbik prize, abstract, textile, yellow, vessel, yam

Imam is represented in the Nillumbik Shire Art Collection and was the winner of the 2015 Nillumbik Prize for her work "Diagram of sentiment #1" (judged by Linden New Art Director Melinda Martin). She was also a finalist in the Nillumbik Prize 2016, 2015, 2013 and 2010. Imam completed a residency at Laughing Waters in 2011. Imam works within photography, the moving image and installation to create works centred on themes of embodiment and the female perspective. In this work she participates in a dialogue between her body and the Finnish Archipelagos in order to develop a relationship with the islands as both a place and an organic body [of land] where flux and change occurs.

Photograph of the artist immersed from the waist down in green moss (landscape).

N/A

finnish, archipelago, inkjet, print, photographic, body, island, moss

Nillumbik Prize 2018 finalist. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. A juxtaposition of the mechanical (digital camera) with the hand painted. Each turning page exposes the artist’s own experiences and responses to his environment. The book unfolds into a sequence of pages that opens up to a landscape.

digital photographs and hand painted (detailed/cropped) images of trees on paper, encased in an archival box.

Video of artist painting the facade of a concrete warehouse into a ‘Trompe-l’oeil’ landscape painting using fire extinguishers as paint brushes. The warehouse slowly disappears into the landscape.

The abstraction and colours refer to the modernist abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

Nillumbik Prize 2018 Winner. The artist lives and works in Nillumbik. Inspired by modernist abstraction the work is a reflection of current times, exploring our relationship with technology and its’ impact on our social, personal and professional lives.

Blurred abstract image in warm colours: yellow, orange and brown. Loading circle in white at the centre of the image.

photograph, digital print, rothko, modernism, instagram, abstract, loading

Painter, printmaker and installation artist John Wolseley was born in Somerset, England. He lived and worked throughout Europe before relocating to Australia in 1976. His work explores how people dwell and move within landscape. Wolseley see's himself as a hybrid mix of artist and scientist; one who tries to relate the minutiae of the natural world - leaf, feather and beetle wing - to the abstract dimensions of the earth's dynamic systems. Using techniques of watercolour, collage, frottage, nature printing and other methods of direct physical or kinetic contact Wolseley finds ways of collaborating with the actual plants, birds, trees, rocks and earth of a particular place. George Baldessin was one of the first artists John Wolseley met when he arrived in Australia in 1976. Both immigrated to Australia and connected through this shared experience. They were both at 'Realities Gallery' with Marianne Baillieu in the 1970s and 80s. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Communion and collaboration with nature are central to Wolseley's practice. He assembles different drawing methods to represent a kind of inventory or document about the state of the earth. His interest is to paint the processes and energy field of the living systems of this land. 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' is his continued exploration of Australia's natural eco-systems. The beetle attacks the eucalypt and in the process of tunnelling into the wood of the tree leaves scribbly patterns. The work celebrates the cycle of life, and the wisdom and delicacy of these creatures. This three dimensional work consisting of three layers of paper is a varied edition, offering just the slightest difference between each print, reflective of variation in nature. The found log used as a woodcut acknowledges the interconnectedness of nature and living beings; the log is not apart from the art and the beetle has become an active artistic collaborator.

An intimate and layered print of a tree log with line trails from the Longicorn beetle. Patches of pink, yellow and orange watercolour placed randomly. Woodcut from found log and etching on chine-colle with water colour on Gampi (top layer), Mulberry (middle layer) and Arches (bottom layer) paper.

In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Life world of the Longicorn beetle' (title); right 'John Wolseley' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)

woodcut, etching, chine-colle, landscape, environment, longicorn beetle, print, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, eco, mixed media

Imants Tillers has been identified as a quintessential postmodern artist in his use of appropriation and quotation. Since 1981 he has used his signature canvas boards to explore themes relevant to contemporary culture, from the centre/periphery debates of the 1980s to the effects of migration, displacement and diaspora. Most recently, his paintings have been concerned with place, locality and evocations of the landscape. Imants Tillers and Baldessin met on their way to the Bienal de Sao Paulo in 1975 and in the following year worked on two collaborative etching plates in Paris that were printed by Pierre Giarudon. 'Unsaid + Nameless' harks back to his experiences with Baldessin in Paris forty years ago. It is a poignant image of absence that can be read in the tradition of the momento mori. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

'Unsaid + Nameless' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. In 1976 Baldessin and Tillers embarked on the collaborative work 'According to des Esseintes'; a post modern Surrealist game of consequences and sequences. In homage to his friendship and work, Tillers completed an unfinished Baldessin plate from 1976 inspired from their 'des Esseintes' collaboration. The addition of Odilon Redon's 'smiling spider' is indicative of Tiller's broader post-modern approach.

Solar plate etching of Odilon Redon's 'Laraignee souriante' (The Smiling Spider) on an incomplete plate etched by George Baldessin in 1976 on Somerset paper. Other images include skewed perspectives of a wooden window frame, 'wooden' floor or table(?) folded sheet of paper and unknown apparatus.

In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre: 'Unsaid + Nameless' (title); right 'Imants Tillers' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)

solar plate etching, george baldessin, somerset paper, spider, line, ekphrasis2018, odilon redon, appropriation, post modern, surrealism, collaboration, paris, folio

Jan Senbergs was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1939 and came to Australia when he was ten. Senbergs’ work has been characterised by a simple and bold aesthetic. From lush landscapes to barren urban spaces, his body of work signifies an artist who has continually experimented with shape, form and motif, a fundamental humanist vision, a finely-honed sense of the absurd, and a rigorous studio practice spanning printmaking, drawing and painting. Senbergs is Baldessin's exact contemporary. He was also born in Europe and fled his homeland because of the war, arriving in Melbourne in 1950. Like George, Senbergs also worked at the RMIT and in 1973 represented Australia at the Bienal de Sao Paulo. Senbergs first met George when he was living in St. Kilda. George asked if he could screen print his 'Argus' catalogue for a show at the gallery in the Argus building. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971. The bluestone studio was hand built by George, his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

'New Jersey - rust belt' is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print finds its' origins in the time Senbergs spent at Harvard in America in 1989-90. In the context of Baldessin it explores an industrial urban surreal vision that was common to both artist. The image captures the life force of the city revealing the keen and observant eye of Jan Senbergs. Similar in sensibility to his large scale charcoal drawings of the 1990s, the artwork is not only a record of what the artist sees, but of what interest him. By following the movement of each line the viewer can witness the artist's eye travelling through, over and around each element of the urban landscape. The scale is deceptive with the image bled to the full-size of the sheet of paper like a microcosm of a much bigger whole.

sugar lift etching of an urban (cityscape - New Jersey) scene - bridges, roads, buildings, in thick black brushstrokes. The image is busy; full of energy and movement. A bleed print in which the paper barely contains the city scape.

In pencil (handwritten): top centre: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'New Jersey-Rustbelt' (title); right 'Jan Senbergs' (signature);

print, sugarlift etching, urban landscape, ekphrasis2018, new jersey, line, rust belt

Michael Leunig is an Australian cartoonist, poet and cultural commentator. His best known works include The Adventures of Vasco Pyjama and the Curly Flats series. Leunig was declared one of Australian Living Treasures by the National Trust of Australia in 1999. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was a printmaker and sculptor who built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

one colour (yellow) etching on Somerset paper. Thick lines weave in and out to produce a figure reminiscent of his 'curly flat' characters holding a long stem flower/vine.

ekphrasis2018, pilgrim, baldessin, leunig

Jock Clutterbuck is a sculptor and printmaker of national significance, known for his sophisticated abstract forms with underlying esoteric mysticism. Clutterbuck overlapped with Baldessin when he studied sculpture and printmaking at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, RMIT (1965-66). He taught at RMIT from (1969-73) before lecturing in sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts (1974-2000). He is represented in many national and international public art collections and is a recipient of many National prizes and awards. George Baldessin (1939-1978) was a printmaker and sculptor who built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971. The bluestone studio was hand built by George, his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George.

‘Frosty Night Cartouche’ is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. Following a visit to the Press in 2015, Clutterbuck was reminded of a suite of paintings he had produced some thirty years earlier inspired by plein-air drawings of the night sky. This print attempts to capture something of the enchantment, mystery and drama of a frosty rural property where Clutterbuck spent many years. It is a frost dreaming; a subtle personal homage to Baldessin, embodying the reverence of a fellow artist towards an old friend.

In pencil (handwritten): low plate: left '14/25' (edition); centre 'Frosty Night Cartouche' (title); right 'Jock Clutterbuck' (signature); low paper: right emboss 'GB' (Baldessin Press & Studio monogram)

ekphrasis2018, symbols

George Baldessin (1939-1978) was born in San Biagio di Callalta, in the Veneto in Northern Italy and arrived in Australia ten years later. A printmaker and sculptor he built his bluestone studio at St Andrews (Nillumbik) in 1971 with his partner Tess and the three Hails brothers, Rob, Doug and Don. Made of recycled materials the studio today contains all of George’s equipment including the large press, which he modelled himself with the help of Neil Jeffrey (Enjay Presses). George won many prizes throughout his career and is represented in many of Australia's public art collections including his famous 'Pears' sculpture in front of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. In 1975 he represented Australia in the Sao Paulo Biennale, before living and working in Paris until his return to St Andrews in 1977. In 1978 George was killed in a car accident aged 39 years. In 2001 Tess returned to St Andrews to reclaim the run-down studio and reconstitute it as The Baldessin Press & Studio - a printmaking retreat. It operates in George’s memory, so that artists may continue to create, perpetuating the generous spirit of George. This work chosen for the folio is from an incomplete edition from 1966. It has been printed on Baldessin's original 1974 cast aluminium Enjay press (designed and made in collaboration with Neil Jeffreys) and restored specifically for this project by Dan Jones. In addition Deanna Hitti has used Baldessin's original Japanese Torinoko paper, stored safely in his studio for over forty years.

‘Portrait II’ is one of eight prints in the 'Baldessin & Friends commemorative folio. The folio was conceived by Tess Edwards as a fundraising initiative in celebration of the The Baldessin Press & Studio's fifteen year anniversary, and as a way to honour George Baldessin's memory. The Baldessin Press & Studio is a not-for-profit organisation created in memory of the late George Baldessin (1939-1978), whose original studio is now open to the public for creative use and as a practical legacy to living artists. The Studio is located in St Andrews, Nillumbik. The folio is a unique coming together of seven very different and acclaimed artists who are connected by their friendship to the missing eighth member, George Baldessin. This print is a fine example of Baldessin's primary interest of the figure, which displays great sensitivity to and observation of the human condition. Distortion, exaggeration and fragmentation were employed by Baldessin as tools to animate and scrutinize the displaced, dispossessed and alienated figure, flattened against the picture plane.

Black and white distorted and exaggerated figure (head and shoulders), with hands raised to the face and the figure's right eye.

acquatint, etching, baldessin, ekphrasis2018, figure