Cressida Campbell

'It’s about showing people how an everyday thing can be beautiful. Every artist has their language—Margaret Olley used to call it their hand-writing —and it’s showing people your vision of the world.'

—Cressida Campbell

In 1979 Campbell found her visual language. Balanced between painting and printmaking, at the heart of her practice is a unique technique developed in art school with her printmaking teacher Leonard Matkevich at East Sydney Technical College. Piles of empty paint tubes and worn-out brushes in her studio attest to a time-consuming process. First Campbell draws directly onto a plywood block then meticulously carves in the outlines. Over several weeks, she uses fine sable brushes to paint layers of watercolour.

Initially Campbell printed a small edition by running the dampened surface of the block through an etching press and repainting it in between each print. In the process, the woodcut gained a chalky delicacy and woodgrain texture, while the woodblock itself acquired a mottled, frescoed surface.

After moving to a home studio in 1983, Campbell began to handprint editions and add further detail with watercolour to both the block and the print. Around 1986 she began to print only a single woodcut from the woodblock painting and to exhibit these together.

This room also references artists and mentors who have influenced Campbell, including John Brack and her great friend, the late Margaret Olley.