5 – 22 November 2020
about the exhibition
Dianne Fogwell has long studied the effects of fire on the Australian landscape. In early 2020, she writes “the haze and unburnt particles that laid a blanket of smoke over Canberra were the ghostly indicators of the immense devastation and turmoil . . . These elements made me contemplate the strength and fragility of the materials I use and acknowledge the irony of making an image about the natural enemy of works on paper.” This exhibition, she says, is “a meditation on damage and loss with hope for regeneration of both place and spirit.” Dianne’s works on paper and paintings often appear as imaginary, almost hallucinatory, dreamscapes and create a story that flows from work to work like pages of text or music. Dianne’s artistic process enhances the poetic nature of her work as she allows the images to emerge on the paper, rather than from a preconceived image. Her unique artist books and works on paper are created by the layering of multiple linocuts and, at times, woodcuts, demonstrating an exceptional level of skill while displaying her ongoing exploration of the print medium.
A master printer and foundation director of several print studios, Dianne lectured for many years in the graphic investigation workshop and the artists’ books studio at the Australian National University. Dianne has been the recipient of numerous awards including, in 2020, the Libris Award: Australian Artists’ Book Prize. Other recent awards include, in 2017, the Geelong Acquisitive Print Award and the Banyule Award for Works on Paper, then, in 2019, the Megalo International Print Prize and the Special Prize at the Ulsan International Woodcut Print Biennale in South Korea. Her illuminating book about printmaking processes, A Printmaker’s Cookbook, was published in 2018. Her work is represented in many public collections including the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, Artbank, Australian War Memorial, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago (USA) and the National Museum for Women in the Arts (USA).
