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Wednesday, 18 June 2008 |
Prints by Mandy Renard
Handmark Gallery, Salamanca
June 13 to July 1
The state of Tasmania will always, for better or worse, inextricably be linked with its wilderness. There are those who wish to preserve its unique beauty, and those who wish to wrench it from our grasp in the quest for the dollar. There are those who travel miles to live amongst it; and those who wish to preserve it forever in their art.
Mandy Renard, whose work is currently being shown at the Handmark Gallery, in Salamanca, fulfils both of the latter roles. She is what's known in “these parts” as a “tree changer” - a mainlander who moves to our state from one of the “big cities” in search of a closer relationship with that natural world Tasmania is so famous for. She now lives in the foothills of Hobart's famous Mount Wellington, and has felt compelled to portray the natural beauty of this area in the bold, intricate prints she creates.
Mandy uses a printmaking technique known as “intaglio”, where a copper plate is etched or “incised” with the image, and then applied with ink. A damp piece of paper is placed on top and then both the plate and paper are passed through press, transferring the ink from the grooves in the plate to the paper. It is a technique used by both Durer and Rembrandt in their printmaking. The effect is stark, dark lines, combined with muted, ethereal watercolour hues. In Renard's work, this juxtaposition of harshness and delicacy seems a perfect complement to her themes of the world of nature versus (and in harmony with), the world of man.
Many of the prints also appear as portraits, showing how, for Mandy, the natural is inextricably linked with the physical and the spiritual. Strong, yet feminine women are shown reclining amongst beds of flowers. They walk together through forests, and sometimes it appears as though they actually become part of the natural world, in a physical sense. Branches grow down from their skirts. Leaves begin sprouting from their sleeves.
Mandy says of her work (in an interview with the ABC's Stateline program), that the feeling of connection with nature in her work “has a lot to do with being here in Tasmania about being surrounded by the environment and influenced by it and having strong feelings towards it. You begin to feel connected to the land here”.
If only all Tasmanians felt that way.
If you want to view Mandy's work, and experience your own connection with Tasmania's wilderness, whether you are a local or a tree changer, go to the Handmark Gallery in Salamanca, between the 13th of June and the 1st of July.
For more info, visit www.handmarkgallery.com
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