Cressida Campbell
Join Cressida Campbell on a tour of her life's work including personal reflections and insight into her unique artistic practice.
In each room, the works are organised by theme and you can hear a description of these themes from Curator, Sarina Noordhuis-Fairfax.
Bushland
Room 5
'Nature is the most exquisite thing. You can’t beat it, but you can show people another way of looking at it.'
—Cressida Campbell
Drawing directly onto plywood, Campbell responds to remnant bushland at the edges of urban areas around greater Sydney and Meanjin/Brisbane. Her cropped views compress time and space to create an immersive experience of landscape.
When walking through her environment Campbell looks for elements that could form the basis of a drawing. Her fascination with shape and texture is described in the distinctive details of seedpods, bark, flowers and leaves. During an artist residency in 1986, she observed the burnt fragments of local bushland and spiky grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) near the campus at Griffith University. Closer to home, Campbell responds to the scale and untamed qualities of the natural world.
Many bush landscapes depict familiar places on the North Shore and eastern suburbs of Sydney, where Campbell has lived or regularly visited. Her mother often accompanied her on these drawing excursions, providing excellent company and chicken sandwiches as well as keeping away curious strangers.
