Creating Art in the Tropics: new works on paper by North Queensland printmakers

Creating Art in the Tropics new works on paper by North Queensland printmakers Spring 2015

umbrella studio contemporary arts

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Aicey Zaro Aicey was born in Ayr, North Queensland. His mother is an Aboriginal descendant of the Birrigubba Clan: the traditional owners of the Burdekin area of North Queensland. His father is from Murray Island (Mer) in the Torres Strait Islands.

Aicey has developed a very recognisable style, reflecting his knowledge and respect of the flora and fauna of the Tropical North’s land and sea. He and his wife own and manage the Zaro Cultural Gallery located in Home Hill, QLD. Aicey facilitates workshops for young and emerging artists, curates exhibitions in his gallery, and supplies cultural centres and galleries throughout Queensland with a range of arts and crafts. His work is in notable collections in Australia and overseas.

Navigation, Monoprint drawing, 75 x 55 cm

Erosion of time, Monoprint drawing, 60 x 45 cm

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Bai Tapau Bai is truly an inspirational artist. The eldest of nine children, her artwork echoes the beauty of her island home Mer, Murray Island in the Torres Straits. To escape the tormenting she received from other children as a young girl she spent afternoons gazing out to sea and the nearby islands and collecting small shells to sketch on cardboard.

Bai was a born a Thalidomide baby with only one finger on each arm. She explains that because of her disability life is very difficult. However, one look at her work reveals the remarkable level of artistic professionalism and unique style she has achieved. Her prints and paintings have developed into a colourful fusion of contemporary (somewhat kitsch) elements and traditional designs reflecting familiar images of wildlife and surrounding coral reefs.

Wave’s Breaking 1 (detail), Monoprint drawing, 50 x 50cm

Were Life Being’s (detail), Monoprint drawing, 50 x 50cm

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Gail Mabo Artist, actor, dancer, director and teacher, Gail Mobo is an artist of diverse and considerable talent. She attended the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association Dance College for four years which provided a foundation for traditional and contemporary movement. During this time she also toured with the Dance Theatre throughout New South Wales, nationally and to the remote Indigenous communities within Australia.

She is a visual arts graduate from the Barrier Reef TAFE and has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Townsville. Her work is in prestigious collections throughout Australia.

Currently she is developing her dance / theater production Koike: The life of Eddie Mabo for a national tour.

Meriba Ged I, Monoprint drawing, 45 x 30 cm

Ker Ker, Monoprint drawing, 60 X 45cm

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Jo Lankester Jo Lankester gained a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in printmaking at the Victorian College of The Arts, 1994. Lankester is an award recipient of the 2nd Student International Art Biennial, Art Gallery Skopje, Macedonia, and the Canson National Student Print Award in 1994. She is currently living as a practising printmaking artist in Townsville, gaining casual employment through various arts organisations and high schools as artist in residence and mentoring through workshops.

She has previous experience as a sessional teacher at James Cook University and exhibitions and collection management at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery. Since 1998 she has been editioning prints for artists including Ron McBurnie, Ray Crooke, Tate Adams and Anneke Silver. In 2010 she opened Brush & Press Studio holding exhibitions of local artists, predominantly printmakers, and sold past exhibition works of her own.

Foliose - Anderson Park, Multi colour plate collagraph, 75.5 x 55cm

Cortex - Patong, Multi colour plate collagraph, 75.5 x 55cm

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Laura Castell Laura Castell is originally from Venezuela and has lived in Australia for 24 years.

Originally trained as a biologist, Laura has recently become a full time artist. She works on a variety of media, with relief printmaking a strong focus in her work.

The human figure and its social environment is a recurrent topic in Laura’s artwork. She sees art as an opportunity to express feelings about society and people that are difficult to display otherwise, using facial expressions and poses to create an image that attracts the viewer through its beauty and its possible meaning. She also is attracted to the beauty of nature and is inspired by the wildlife in North Queensland.

Mating Time II - Great Bowerbird (detail), Multiblock linocut and Woodblock, 46 x 39cm

Strong Women, Woodcut, 80 x 60cm

Rhonda Stevens

umbrella studio contemporary arts

Rhonda Stevens lives and works on Magnetic Island, her natural environment and the ordinary everyday detritus remains a constant source of inspiration with the myriad complexities of humanity…particularly how we relate to each other.

After following her love of sculpture from studying at Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne, she has moved into the magical world of printmaking and seeks to explore both practices in the development of her art.

Rhonda has exhibited extensively locally and interstate, and her work has been collected privately and publicly.

Protecting (detail), Collagraph, 49 x 29cm

Shiver (detail), Collagraph, 49 x 29cm

Umbrella Studio Association Incorporated is an inclusive, not–for–profit, members based exhibition and studio space which drives innovation, invites experimentation, encourages excellence and inspires appreciation for contemporary visual art in North Queensland and beyond.

Our studio was founded in 1986, becoming an instrumental organisation in the development of fine art printmaking in North Queensland.

Since the early 1990s, Umbrella has been transformed from an artist collective offering practical studio based facilities, to a funded and professionally managed members based contemporary arts organisation, with an annual program of exhibitions, public programs and special events. Umbrella Studio is a platform that has launched many successful artists’ careers. Prints from our artists are in prestigious private and public collections such as the National Gallery of Victoria, The National Gallery of Australia, The State Library of Queensland, and James Cook University among others.

In purchasing art from Umbrella Studio you are acquiring a piece of Queensland’s cultural history, supporting Australian artists, and transforming communities.

Umbrella Studio contemporary arts 482 Flinders Street, Townsville, Queensland 4810 www.umbrella.org.au | Phone & Fax: (07) 4772 7109 | Facebook & Twitter: UmbrellaStudio Open 9am-5pm Monday - Friday, 9am-1pm Sunday | office@umbrella.org.au Umbrella Studio acknowledges the financial support of: The Queensland Government, through Arts Queensland and the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

umbrella studio contemporary arts