HOW GEMMA KING CAPTURES THE NEW ENGLAND LANDSCAPE
Walcha-born artist Gemma King has been obsessively drawing since the moment she could hold a pencil. Today, her work captures the ever-changing mood of the New England landscape through her preferred medium of linocutting.
“I can distinctly remember my first moment of awe – I was watching Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom… the colours, the movement, the ageing, sun-drenched Aussie faces, 80s makeup and style, the colloquial humour and drama.
The beautiful nonsense of it all.”
Walcha artist Gemma King went on to watch Baz’s masterpiece “an embarrassing number of times”. To this day, she finds herself stealing time to mix inks in an effort to recreate the canary yellow of Liz Holt’s ballroom gown. For Gemma, it was a turning point in the way she viewed the world – an awakening of colour, design and boldness that complemented her joy-filled, artistic childhood.
“Growing up, I loved being surrounded by art in my home – I was drawn to it from a young age and have reportedly been obsessively drawing since I could hold a pencil,” she says.
“My parents, artist Julia Griffin and sculptor Stephen King, encouraged me early on – the fact they knew how hard it would be and still gave me the confidence to try was all the validation I needed.” to live our lives.
regional inspiration
Following school, Gemma went on to study at the National Art School in Darlinghurst, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking in 2011. Today, her main disciplines include linocutting, carved wooden sculpture and charcoal drawings. Her work is often inspired by her regional landscape and can change dramatically depending on light, season, rain and wind, with linocutting in particular giving her the opportunity to depict the one landscape in an array of moods.
“I think everyone tried linocutting at school, but I just never got sick of it – I could always find new ways to challenge myself within the process,” says Gemma.
“My recent exhibition at Weswal Gallery, Body of Water, for example, is a new suite of one-off jigsaw single plate reduction linocut prints that respond to the New England’s familiar rolling pastures. The work’s palette and structure have been simplified, brightened and sharpened, while using thicker ink, more layers and introducing jigsaw to the reduction process has allowed me to touch on the sense of volume, density and boldness seen in this drought-free landscape.
“All of my prints are one-off works and reflect the ever-changing moods of the views I visit regularly on my mustering travels through my home.”
Aside from linocutting, Gemma still finds time to draw and can often be spotted with a compressed charcoal pencil in her hand. She’s also been inspired by her father to delve into sculpture.
“Dad taught me everything I know to do with constructing an image out of a block – I’m hugely influenced by him in that discipline, but it can be difficult on my hands,” says Gemma.
“So I’m looking for a new medium to approach sculpture in a less heavy handed way that won’t hurt my body so much!”
Whatever medium she chooses, Gemma finds herself drawn to art at every opportunity. To her, it’s a chance to ground herself, reconnect with her regional landscape and draw on the creative energy that’s flowed through her veins since she was a young girl, riding horses with her cousins and visiting granny’s house for tea.
“I love what I do – the colour, the quiet, the ink, order, paper, form, rhythm and shape. There’s so much about being an artist that I will always love, it’s completely indulgent for all the senses and I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
