7 - 26 November 2013
about the exhibition
Highly regarded Tasmanian artist, Barbie Kjar’s paintings and works on paper are immediately recognisable and very distinctive in both technique and imagery. People, birds, fish, beasts and the four elements of earth, air, fire and water are major themes. Colour is used to enhance and interpret these themes and is always a conscious and significant element in her work. In her printmaking, Barbie employs an electric engraver that allows her to produce rich velvety lines, a hallmark of her art. This exhibition, her firstat Beaver Galleries, comprises a selection of works from 2008 to 2013 and brings together ideas of direction and geometry inspired by sources as diverse as the Japanese form of archery (Kyudo) and the travels of Ulysses. Although often figurative, her imagery is rarely literal, with each element in the image telling a story where meanings are not fixed but hint at other realities with almost endless possibilities. Her images are both beautiful and ethereal with a powerful narrative at their core.
Barbie Kjar completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts through the University of Tasmania in 1988 and, in 2002, completed her Masters of Fine Art at RMIT. She has exhibited extensively across Australia and overseas with her work held in such prominent collections as the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery as well as regional galleries across Australia.
