2 - 20 September 2004
about the exhibition
“There is music everywhere and verses all around, stories from the present and whispers from the past. The moon is always present, and so is time and sound…” Chilean-born printmaker Christina Cordero’s delicate, symbolic imagery is a poetic fusion of language, mythology, travel, music and imagination. Using a vocabulary of motifs such as boats, crescent moons, fish and primitive figures, the artist takes us on a rhythmic journey into a world of stories, at once ancient and contemporary, from the point of view of women. Musician and performance artist John Cage’s unorthodox treatment of sound has been an influence on Christina’s approach to art making, as he challenged all pre-conceived views the audience may have had, and, like Christina, welcomed the notion of chance as part of art and life. Her work reflects a lifetime of being on the move – displaced from her homeland and yet not truly at home in Australia, Christina sees herself as unconnected and unbound. In her prints, the prevalent and repeated image of women in boats alludes to the idea of escape and dislocation while, at the same time, offering a symbol of containment, protection and nurture. This is Christina Cordero’s third exhibition with Beaver Galleries.
Christina studied painting and printmaking in Australia, culminating in her Diploma of Fine Arts from the National Art School, Sydney. She has developed her career substantially, showing in numerous exhibitions, across Australia and in Canada, USA, Spain and China. Christina’s work has been recognised by a number of awards including in 1994 the prestigious Grand Prix at the Canadian Biennale Internationale d’Art Miniature for her etching “Codex Bondicus” and in 1999 the International Miniature print award in Cadaqués, Spain. In 2000, Christina received First Prize for her print “Looking through” in the Print Section at the Annual National Awards Exhibition, Australian Society of Miniature Art.
