Marina Strocchi, Boats, etching and chine colle, image 20 x 24 cm, Printer: Trent Walter
New etchings and lithographs by Alice Springs based artists Marina Strocchi and Wayne Eager are the latest works currently on show at the Northern Editions gallery on the Casuarina Campus at Charles Darwin University.
Journalist and author Nicolas Rothwell will officially open the exhibition Marina Strocchi and Wayne Eager: new etchings and lithographs at 6pm today – Thursday, 31 May.
Strocchi and Eager have lived in the Territory since 1992 and have drawn on their experience of the landscape of Northern Australia for many of the prints in the exhibition.
The images in the show range from Strocchi’s charming narratives packed with Territory icons to the strong and energetic abstractionist work of Eager.
The 26 new limited edition prints on display are the result of three printmaking workshops held with the artists at Northern Editions.
The first two two-day workshops took place in 2004 and 2005 with senior printmakers Leon Stainer and Dian Darmansjah and was Strocchi and Eager’s first introduction to printmaking.
Inspired by the results from these initial workshops, the artists received funding through the NT Governments' Arts Grants Program to undertake a subsequent two week long printmaking workshop in November 2006.
During this workshop the artists extended their printmaking skills under the expert guidance of printmakers Trent Walter, Sarah Dudley and Ulrich Kuehle and Jacinta Numina-Waugh.
‘We’re both painters, but it is good to step away for a time and do something complementary to our painting. It also means we come back to painting refreshed, and with new perspectives,' Strocchi said about the experience.
Since completing their arts training in Melbourne in the 70s and 80s both artists have built successful careers as painters. Their works have been shown in solo shows through major galleries in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and at Raft Artspace in Darwin.
Eager was a founding member of Melbourne’s Roar Studios, which emerged in the early 1980s with its raw, abstract style of painting. In 1990 Wayne Eager spent eight months painting in the Northern Territory: five months at Kapalga CSIRO Research Station and three months in Alice Springs.
Northern Editions has been supporting Indigenous printmaking since 1993 and is now the longest established producer, publisher and retailer of limited edition fine art prints in northern Australia. Many of these works have since found their way into major art galleries, museums and corporate and private collections around the world.
The exhibition will run until 24 June and is open to the public from 10am to 5pm weekdays in Building 33, at CDU’s Casuarina Campus. The exhibition is also available to view online at www.cdu.edu.au/northerneditions.
For further details or an interview contact Emma Fowler-Thomason on 08 8946 6325.