27 May - 14 June 2004
about the exhibition
Well known Canberra artist Meg Buchanan uses a range of mediums to explore defined space and the figurative elements that dwell within it. It is possible to read the images as fractured landscapes, abstract signage or as portraiture. However interpreted, the limited field of vision and tight composition set up a tension between structure, “figure” and the viewer. In Meg Buchanan’s most recent work, the object of identity has shifted from the abstracted figure to the landscape. Her images employ a shallow pictorial space – a defined space that we inhabit; the vernacular rather than the sublime landscape. In a recent profile, critic Professor Sasha Grishin wrote: “the work suggests a preoccupation with questions of identity… something created or invented within a particular environment, the regional and the personal are of greater significance than the cosmopolitan and general.”
A graduate of painting from Newcastle School of Art in 1971, Meg Buchanan later studied printmaking in Paris and New York (1980 – 81) and was awarded a Master of Art in drawing at Monash University in 1998. Since 1974 she has lectured in art at universities and art schools in Australia, Kenya, Singapore and Thailand and has held senior academic positions including Head of Foundation Studies at the Canberra School of Art and Head of Printmaking at the National Art School, Sydney. Meg now concentrates on her studio practice full time. Her work has been included in major curated exhibitions including “Capital Works” which travelled to Singapore and Hong Kong; the Biennale of Drawing, Canberra; and the 2004 Archibald Salon des Refuses. She has been commissioned to produce prints for notable occasions including the Print Council of Australia’s 25th Anniversary Print Commission and, in her capacity as Co-founder and Director of Studio One print workshop, has produced editions for other prominent artists. Her work is represented in major public collections in Australia and overseas including the National Gallery of Australia and the New York University Collection. This is Meg Buchanan’s third solo exhibition at Beaver Galleries.
