Cressida Campbell
Gum Blossom, 1987
coloured woodblock print
34 x 37.5
cm
signed and dated 'Cressida Campbell '87' (lower right) and numbered '4/10' (lower left) and inscribed with title (centre)
Image courtesy of Rex Irwin Art Dealer and the artist
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Cressida Campbell's woodblock print 'Gum Blossom', 1987, is a still life study of a blossoming native gum rendered in the distinctively Australian palette of green, white and gold. Intimate in scale and subject, Campbell's art reflects the everyday. It is the composition of the image that gives the work its' dynamism, or what the artist refers to as "the subtleties of design and pattern". While the Australian subject matter recalls the work of Margaret Preston, the process and stylised aesthetic suggest an appreciation of Japanese Ukiyo prints. Beginning with a design drawn onto a sheet of plywood, Campbell meticulously carves each line of the illustration with a fine engraving tool. She then uses delicate brushes to apply layers of watercolour to the individual segments, before printing the final paper impressions.
Provenance
Mori Gallery, Sydney
Acquired by the present owner in 1987
Exhibited
'Cressida Campbell', Grifftih University, Brisbane, 1986
'Cressida Campbell', Mori Gallery, Sydney,1987, cat.6
Illustrated
John McDonald, Edmund Capon and Peter Crayford (ed), 'The Woodblock Painting of Cressida Campbell', Sydney, 2008, P8603 (not illustrated)