Nature printing past and present - an exhibition at the Morris Miller Library, UTAS Sandy Bay Campus from February 28th to April 30th 2011 .
[Im]pressed by Nature is an exhibition currently showing in the UTAS Morris Miller Library on Sandy Bay Campus until the end of April. It features Gyotaku fish prints by Boshu Nagase from the Australian Antarctic Division collection, rare books from the Special Collections of the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne and the UTAS Library Special and Rare collections, fossils from the UTAS Geology Rock Store and nature printed artworks by Christl Berg, Chantale Delrue, Beverley Dunn, and Yvonne von Lichtan.
Nature printing describes any printing process which directly uses plants, animals, rocks and other natural subjects to produce an image. It provides a way of recording intricate details accurately without requiring expert artistic skills. Many methods were employed - some used simple direct printing from inked natural materials pressed onto paper and others employed more complex techniques which involved the subject undergoing several stages to give a direct impression onto materials such as lead, gum, and photographic plates, which were then used in the printing process. The Englishman, Henry Bradbury, having learnt from Alois Auer in Vienna, was one of the leading printers in this field in the mid-nineteenth century with his books, featured in this exhibition, of the British ferns, seaweeds and wildflowers which are held in the UTAS Library Special Collections.
At a similar time in Japan, ‘Gyotaku’ or fish printing, was being used as a quick way for fishermen to record the size of their catch by painting the fish with sumi ink and then pressing paper onto the fish to create an impression. Later a more complex ‘indirect’ method of printing was developed. The Gyotaku printer Boshu Nagase is considered to be the Japanese Master of this method and part of his Antarctic fish series is featured in this exhibition on loan from the Australian Antarctic Division collection.
Many contemporary artists utilise nature printing using many different media and techniques in their art practice. This exhibition includes examples by four Tasmanian artists, Christl Berg, Chantale Delrue, Beverley Dunn and Yvonne von Lichtan.