CRESSIDA CAMPBELL (B.1960)
Known for her beautiful and skillfully carved woodblocks of interiors scenes, gardens and still life arrangements, Australian artist Cressida Campbell is one of the most collectable artists practising in Australia today.
Born in 1960, Cressida Campbell first attended the Sydney College of Arts for only three days, discovering quickly that the dominating emphasis on conceptual art was not a practise she could immerse herself in. Cressida Campbell went on to be trained at the East Sydney Technical College where she first came into contact with printmaking as well as the Yoshida Hanga Academy in Tokyo, Japan where Cressida Campbell's appreciation for the Japanese aesthetic tradition grew.
Her process is time-consuming and measured, Cressida Campbell takes great pains to ensure the design drawn onto the plywood block is exact before carefully carving into the block with a small engraving tool. Watercolour is then applied followed by many coats of paint, a spray of water is the final step before a single print is taken.
The result is a woodblock and its mirror woodblock print that is admired as much for aesthetic beauty as it is for the time and technical skill needed to create it.