A couple of weeks ago, I attended the opening of an exhibition by two of Centrehouse's print making teachers. Bernhardine Mueller has been teaching print making at Centrehouse for many years and has a Solar Plate workshop coming up in the early part of 2012 and Denise Scholz-Wulfing has taught our print making classes during the term, which we will be offering again in Term 1 2012.
Denise's etchings are hung as a narrative that is based on a series of illustrations of the Book of Job, by William Blake. The difference with Denise's work is that she tells the story with Mother Nature as the key protagonist, who tests Job and his treatment of the land. The story begins with Job tending his flock , where there is a definite divide between the bush and the farm. Mother Nature then turns her back on Job and he is faced with plagues of rabbits and locusts. Job finally decides to work with Mother Nature, repairing the land from the ravages of over farming, seeking redemption and finally living again in harmony with the land. This series of nine etchings is technically very skillful, with each one engaging the viewer with subtle messages and a dense patchwork of imagery.
Image 1:
Denise Scholz-Wulfing, The Job Series, Tending the Flock, etching and collagraph
Image 2:
Denise Scholz-Wulfing, The Job Series, Harmony, etching and collagraph
Bernhardine Mueller's etchings also look at man's relationship to nature, however she constructs her 'little vignettes' from the imagination and these works have a uniquely Australian feeling, using humour to ask questions about the way man interacts and sometimes struggles with the environment. There are recurring themes of the vessel in her images of boats and balloons that seem to help secure and navigate her characters through. Bernhardine has hand coloured these prints, bringing her characters alive and giving the works a more painterly quality.
There are a couple of more abstract works in this exhibition, that are layered with references to the Australian landscape. Being less literal, these densely patterned works make you feel like you are standing right in the midst of the thickly tangled, yet beautiful rainforest or bush. Bernhardine masters the traditional techniques of print making in a fresh and inspiring way.
Both women are extremely passionate about printmaking and having attended classes taught by both of them, I have come to realise that to create such high quality and compelling images from printmaking you really need to get the technical aspects right. Both Bernhardine and Denise can help you on your own journey.
Image 1: Bernhardine Mueller, Dancing with the Wind, hand coloured etching
Image 2: Bernhardine Mueller, Fish River, hand coloured etching
This joint exhibition 'Imaginary Narratives, Here to There', continues until Friday 12th November 2011 and is held at the Marianne Newman Gallery in Crows Nest. For information on the printmaking workshops and term classes, call us on 9428 4898. by Felicity Martin.
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