Kate Gorringe-Smith: 'Secret Worlds'

Kate Gorringe-Smith: 'Secret Worlds'.

Linocut, monoprint and collage on eco-printed paper, 129 x 100 cm (framed).

websites: kategorringesmith.com.au
theoverwinteringproject.com

The species depicted in this work are chosen from the Ramsar description of Western Port/Warn Marrin. The paper is eco-printed (a process of wrapping paper tightly around plant material and boiling it so that the natural dyes and impressions of the plants are imparted to the paper) using plants collected around Phillip Island, in Western Port. The work is about how habitat and animal life are intimately interconnected and interdependent. The featured bird is a life-sized linocut of a Buff-banded Rail - a shy and hard-to-see bird that is a contrast to the hero-species often used in conservation campaigns. Melbourne/Naarm-based contemporary printmaker Kate Gorringe-Smith works in 2D and 3D form and installation. Her work is intimately connected to the environment, and she explores ways to convey the sense of the rich and unique entanglement of site, plant, human and animal life. She has a great love of birds that was greatly influenced by her work with BirdLife Australia in the 1990s. Birds are the easiest wild animals to see, and looking for birds is often a portal into a richer appreciation of the environment. In the intervening years since her last solo exhibition in 2016, Kate has expanded her practice, exploring ways connect works with specific sites and to reflect the experience of being in a place. While still using traditional printmaking techniques, she also uses eco-printing and dying, fibre art, glass art, photography and video to engage the senses of the viewer. While working for BirdLife Australia in the 1990s, Kate studied printmaking at RMIT. She teaches workshops for adults and children and has presented papers at conferences on how art can engage people with the environment for conservation purposes. Her work has been shortlisted in the Silk Cut, Burnie, Geelong and Castlemaine Experimental Print Prizes and the Manly Artists Book Prize. Kate has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Australia and overseas, and was Vice President of the Print Council of Australia 2016-22. She lives and works on unceded sovereign lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation.