kati thamo

bird in a bell jar: nature bound + bottled

6 july - 4 august 2018

 

• william yeoman, marvel at masterful musings the west australian, 7 july 2018

Books have been an important creative device in Kati Thamo's exhibition of new etchings and gouache paintings.

Titled Bird in a Bell Jar - Nature Bound and Bottled, Thamo's exhibition depicts a sequence of botanical and animal specimens that reflect on our relationship with the natural world. Presenting a compendium of small ecologies, held in glass containers or in the pages of books, these delicate environments suggest the vulnerability, complexity and current fragility of our natural world.

Thamo noted, "Responding to that sense of encroachment on wild places I have created this compendium of images showing aspects of nature that have reached out their tendrils and touched me... The Book of Nature prints are a series of linked images showing the pages of open books. In using books, I want to draw on a range of associations from encyclopaedia and scientific documentation through to illuminated manuscripts and sacred texts. This 'book' has no text but instead has intricate images of nature inscribed on the pages. The images are drawn from natural environments I've encountered and are detailed and intimate expressions of place describing profusion, complexity and entanglement. I wanted to infer a vocabulary of natural elements with a text written by the outlines of nature itself".

Kati Thamo is well known for her extraordinary print making skills, and this exhibition of new work includes some of her finest, perhaps because the subject is so close to her heart. Accompanying the prints is an exquisite series of specimen paintings on the pages of old encyclopaedias; this is the first time she has shown such work. The painted objects are presented as a sort of foil, a specimen with its own grace and logic, at odds with, yet complimented by, the mechanical printed process in the background.

Thamo studied at Edith Cowan University and has won many print awards [20 to date] since she started exhibiting in the early 1990s. Her artworks can be found in public and private collections across Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

wildlife preserve etching + aquatint 45.7 x 58cm 2017 $700 sold a/p
darting varied ed. 2 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	moss garden etching + aquatint 25.8 x 18.8cm 2018 $330 SOLD a/p
and banksia varied ed. 2 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 sold a/p	encircled etching + aquatint 23 x 16.8cm 2017 $330
latin literature mixed media on found pages 19.1 x 24.7cm 2017 $450	modern philosophy mixed media on found pages 19.2 x 25cm 2017 $450 sold
in clear air varied ed. 2 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 SOLD a/p, 1/12, 2/12, 3/12	nightbird singing etching + aquatint 30 x 19.5cm 2018 $350 SOLD A/P, 1/16, 2/16, 3/16, 4/16
searching varied ed. 2 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 sold a/p	nightjar etching + aquatint 28 x 24.7cm 2018 $350 SOLD a/p, 1/25, 2/25, 3/25, 4/25, 5/25
mythology mixed media on found pages 19.2 x 24.2cm 2017 $450 SOLD	literature mixed media on found pages 19 x 25cm 2017 $450 SOLD
with intent varied ed. 2 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 SOLD a/p	wildlife preserve: banded rail etching + aquatint 35 x 29cm 2016 $380 SOLD a/p, 3/10, 4/10, 5/10, 6/10
in tangled bush varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	the glass aviary etching + aquatint with hand colouring 37 x 29cm 2018 $450 sold a/p, 1/16, 2/16
ancient philosophy mixed media on found pages 19 x 24.7cm 2017 $450 sold	adaption mixed media on found pages 19.1 x 24.6cm 2017 $450
over ferns varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	wildlife preserve: bandicoot etching + aquatint 30.8 x 27cm 2016 $360 SOLD a/p, 5/10, 6/10, 7/10, 8/10
darting varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	test tube: sundew etching + aquatint 20.2 x 8.2cm 2018 $200
through sheoak varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	held etching + aquatint 20.2 x 8.2cm 2018 $200 SOLD a/p
wildlife preserve: birds etching + aquatint 45.7 x 53cm 2017 $680 SOLD a/p
and banksia varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	blown glass: spider orchids etching + aquatint 29.8 x 24.8cm 2018 $370
in clean air varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	blown glass: sundew etching + aquatint 34 x 16cm 2018 $330
searching varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	wildlife preserve: frog etching + aquatint 39 x 18cm 2016 $360
with intent varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 sold a/p	blown glass: bird orchid etching + aquatint 26 x 13.6cm 2018 $280
calling varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 SOLD a/p, 1/12	blown glass: rattlebeak etching + aquatint 26 x 13.6cm 2018 $280
rustling varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	preserving: noisy scrub bird etching + aquatint 26 x 18.7cm 2017 $350
on night wings varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	preserving: parrot etching + aquatint 30 x 25cm 2018 $370 SOLD a/p
amid foliage varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	the glass aviary etching + aquatint 37 x 29cm 2018 $420 SOLD
curling varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440 sold a/p	mediaeval philosophy mixed media on found pages 19.1 x 24.5cm 2017 $450
hidden varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	biochemistry mixed media on found pages 19.1 x 25cm 2018 $450
amongst leaves varied ed. 1 etching + aquatint 22 x 30cm 2018 $440	building mixed media on found pages 19.3 x 24.5cm 2018 $450
algebra mixed media on found pages 19.1 x 24.6cm 2018 $450	book of nature [full set of 15 prints] etching + aquatint var 1 22 x 30cm [x15] 2018 $5,700 SOLD 10/12