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Artist Statement

After two residencies in Broken Hill I was inspired by the Darling River – it’s history and the river in its’ natural surrounds. With each visit I was able to return to the river banks in three different places - Kinchega National Park at Menindee as well as Barrarroo and Billilla Stations closer to Wilcannia.

In the early 70’s I was employed as a map-maker by BHP Port Kembla, so when I saw some images from the early Mapping Charts of The Darling from the nineteenth century on the cover of ‘Uncharted Waters’ (Murray Darling Basin Authority) the inspiration for this series of works on paper began to take shape. Later I was fortunate to visit the National Museum of Australia to document in video and with digital images.

This series of works on paper pay homage to my past as a mapmaker and acknowledges the early mapping charts as scrolls (400 mm wide by 4 metres long). Suspended from the ceiling with blackwood hangers, they are evocative of the sense of place and a history linked to an amazing river system.

These works combine the fluidity of the Japanese brush in flowing strokes of ink and parisienne essence with the memory of the flow and shape of the river. These double sided pieces, are worked with a monotone effect created by flooding ink in the shape of the river then spread with river silt and red earth, then left to dry creating an echo of watermarks. The colours range from rich golden reds observed during the ten year drought, to the greenish hues after the rain in 2010 offering a time of renewal and fresh growth.

Biography

After completing five years of arts training at the University of Wollongong in the mid eighties Crane gained an Associate Diploma of Creative Art followed by Bachelor of Creative Arts graduating with Distinction.

Crane has been involved with many artist run initiatives and community arts projects over many years, including Art Arena Gallery Inc, Megalo Access Arts and the ANCA Dickson studio complex in Canberra. During this time she participated in many solo and group exhibitions. She was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship researching community arts and mental health in 2002.

Her work has been represented in many group and selected exhibitions – regionally, nationally and internationally. Since her arrival to the Far South Coast of NSW she has participated in eleven solo shows. Residencies since 1995 have included the Bundanon Trust, Alice Springs, Broken Hill Art Exchange and most recently Berlin. She won the Illawarra Art Prize in 1986 and has been acquired by the Alice Craft Acquisition 2007 for mixed media. In  2008 she was the joint winner of the Calleen Acquisition (with Wendy Teakel). Her work is in the collection of the Bundanon Trust.

‘Over the past few years my work has been about the landscape of place. To me the most important aspect of being an artist is to be authentic through your art. To be able to create a narrative about the places I inhabit is an essential part of my process – be that painting, mixed media, drawing, textiles, assemblages, photographs and most recently video.’

Education

1982 - 84:   Associate Diploma of Creative Arts.  University of Wollongong
1984 - 86:  Bachelor of Creative Arts (Distinction).  University of Wollongong

Exhibitions