G.W Bot : Glyphmaker

G.W Bot : Glyphmaker

On display at the Tweed River Art Gallery , Murwillumbah was G.W Bot's "Glyphmaker" A specially chosen selection of her works will be exhibited at Tweed River Art Gallery from Friday 5 October - Sunday 25 November 2012.

According to Aboriginal totemic belief, each member of a clan inherits a totemic relationship with a particular plant or animal of the region. I like this idea of oneness with the environment. Where I live wombats are especially prevalent and they have become my totemic animal. The earliest written reference to a wombat occurs in a French source where it is called "le grand Wam Bot," and hence my exhibiting name - G.W. Bot.

Printmaker G.W. Bot was born in Quetta , Pakistan and currently resides in Canberra.

GW Bot studied art in London, Paris and Australia and graduated from the Australian National University in 1982

She has taught printmaking in Australia and India and exhibited in Australia and internationally in London, Paris and Los Angeles. Bot’s work has been included in group shows at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

Bot’s work is held by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; the Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide; Artbank, Sydney; Parliament House, Canberra and internationally by institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Museum of Modern Art, Osaka, Japan and the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.

G W Bot has earned an international reputation, with her extensive list of exhibitions throughout Australia and overseas. Printmaking is Bot's primary medium, and her name has become synonymous with excellence in the linocut technique. Bot's work engages with the environment in both a topographical and metaphysical sense, featuring strong lines, complex patterns and a palette influenced by the colours of nature.

Glyphmaker, an initiative of Tweed River Art Gallery, combines prints, paintings and sculpture specially selected for exhibition at the Murwillumbah gallery. In all variations of her work, GW Bot marries a mastery of technique with unlimited creativity and intuitive sensitivity.

Printmaking is Bot’s primary medium, creating works which engage with the environment in both a topographical and metaphysical sense. They feature strong lines, complex patterns and a palette influenced by the colours of nature.

For some time, GW Bot has been recording the Australian landscape, developing glyphs as a form of language to portray her responses to the landscape. These glyphs have been expressed in her work as drawings, relief prints, paintings and bronze sculptures.

The glyphs are a direct response to the artist’s sense of place – whether it is the grasslands of the Lower Molonglo Valley, close to her residence, or the vastness of Lake George (Weerewa) located between Canberra and Goulburn.

Bot’s glyphs strike strong silhouettes and present complex and often rhythmic patterns.

The Tweed River Art Gallery had displayed Bot's artwork in a long , climate controlled, hallway .Comfortable seating is provided. The prints themselves have black framing which compliments the imagery and atmosphere against the stark white walls of the gallery space. Information regarding the exhibition is readily available , pamphlets and large plaques about the techniques used in the prints are found alongside the prints. This space is brightly lit , with subtle lights shone down apon the prints which are hung at eye level , creating a bright, inviting atmosphere.

Everyone was welcome to attend the opening celebrations on Friday 5 October from 6pm, including an official opening by art consultant, curator and writer Dr Anne Kirker.

The successful exhibition of G.W Bot's work shows an extensive range and depth of the artists mastery of techniques.

“GW Bot’s work has become synonymous with excellence in the linocut technique and we are lucky enough to hold four of her linocuts in the gallery's collection," gallery Director Susi Muddiman said.