Christine James has a concern for the remnant landscape of the Weereewa/Lake George region.
Christine is a landscape artist in the sense that she is deeply committed to understanding the
physical reality of Australia and her work continually seeks an understanding of 'what Australia
is and what we are'.
Christine has not been seduced by the intellectual pursuit of light, colour or romanticised panorama.
The Weereewa region has been at the heart of James's painting practice for the last fifteen years.
Her research of the region has been broad and comprehensive. It has unearthed many histories,
geological and land care studies, personalities and present residents. Change has been the
constant for much of the region.
She says of her work, 'although Weereewa has been an ongoing preoccupation through my
research and painting for over a decade. I can truly say that it was not until the past 2 years during
when I have had the privilege of visiting private properties where conservation of the living ecology
has been paramount that I am beginning to appreciate the complexity of this country'. Further she
says her work 'now focuses on remnant flora - that which has survived 200 years of white settlement'.
James acknowledges that her work 'is unashamedly representational' . She utilises the nineteenth
century Western tradition of landscape painting that was fed by a growing sense of nationalism in
Europe and the British Empire. Australia was no exception and our fervour increased in the last
decades of the century leading up to Federation.
Christine wants her paintings to reflect her working within the landscape as it is; to remind an
audience of the resilience and potential of virgin, Australian native landscape without improvement
or distortion.
Her palette is low key, earthy and evocative; and she has developed a technique of painting with
oils on Belgium canvas that retains the fresh immediacy of rapidly sketched 'plein air' watercolours.
This fluidity is achieved through use of very thin oil colour allowing 'washes' to dry before applying
further pigment and by leaving large areas of perimeter untouched.
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Never a Plough - Poa tussock grassland, West of Lake George I, 2008
Oil on linen
407 x 607mm
Photo: Stuart Hay
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Never a Plough - Poa tussock grassland, West of Lake George II, 2008
Oil on linen
407 x 607mm
Photo: Stuart Hay
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Never a Plough - Poa tussock grassland, West of Lake George III, 2008
Oil on linen
407 x 607mm
Photo: Stuart Hay
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"It's a work that I
hope conveys my deepest feeling about this place. Nearby, I have
been shown over a hundred round stones - all about the samesize,
and nearby them a large rock with an indentation - they were
almostcertainly grinding stones, so here the women used to grind
Kangaroo grassseed and harvest yam daisy and sing. The black
in the work is the
indelibleness of some aspects of nature..." |
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Christine James
Born 1953 Casino NSW
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Education
1986
1992
1994
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Diploma of Visual Arts, Queensland College of Art, Brisbane
Bachelor of Arts (Visual) The Australian National University, School of Art
Graduate Diploma in Visual Arts, (Painting) ANU, School of Art
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Solo Exhibitions
2007
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
1999
1998
1996
1992
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Remnant Landscapes East of Lake George Beaver Galleries, Deakin, ACT
Cooloola Noosa Regional Gallery, Noosa, QLD
Cooloola Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT
Into the Blue Judith Pugh Gallery, Mount Macedon, VIC
Jervis Bay Barry Stern Gallery, Sydney, NSW
Jervis Bay - Sites Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Noosa River Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD
Some Insecta Noosa Regional Gallery, QLD
India - Recent Paintings Canberra Contemporary Art Space, ACT
Survey/Surveyed/Surveillance ANU School of Art, Graphic Investigation Workshop
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Selected Group Exhibitions
2008
.
.
2008
2007
2006
2006
2006
.
2006
2005
2005
2005
2004
2004
2004
2001
2001
2001
2000
2000
1999
1999
1998
1998
1997
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Baseline: Remnant Grasslands at Weereewa/Lake George, an exhibition of panoramic format
paintings by Christine James and sculptural constructions by Beth Hatton at Craft ACT Gallery 1,
opens July 17 2008.
Lake Gathering ANCA Galleries, ACT.
Scottsdale Field Studies ANU School of Art Foyer Gallery, ACT
National Maritime Art Prize Mission to Seafarers, Melbourne, VIC
Footprints On The Lake Goulburn Regional Gallery, NSW
Lake Gnotuk, A Layered History Victorian and SA tour Warrnambool Art Gallery VIC, Riddoch Art
Gallery, Mount Gambier SA and Bundoora Homestead Art Centre VIC
Beaver Galleries Artists Beaver Galleries, ACT
CAPO Art Auction National Portrait Gallery, ACT
National Maritime Art Prize Mission to Seafarers, Melbourne, VIC
Lake Gnotuk, A Layered History Victorian tour, Geelong Gallery and Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, VIC
Bathing With Mary Cooloola Shire Public Gallery, QLD
Bathing With Mary Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, QLD
Contour - National Print Symposium Megalo Access Arts Inc, ACT
The Secret Life of Plants Academy of Science, Shine Dome ACT
Art & Land, Contemporary Australian Visions National tour
Jervis Bay Field Studies ANU School of Art Photospace, ACT
Art & Land, Contemporary Australian Visions South-East Asian Tour, Funded by Asialink
The John Leslie Art Award Gippsland Regional Gallery, VIC
Suddenly The Lake Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT
The 30th Alice Prize The Araluen Centre, NT
Printing History Canberra Museum and Gallery, ACT
Nature Cooloola Shire Public Gallery, inaugural exhibition, QLD
Mapping the Comfort Zone, the Dream and the Real Adelaide Festival Centre SA
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Awards and Grants
2007
2007
2003
.
2003
2002
2001
1999
1998
1992
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The Canberra Times Art Critics Circle Award
ArtsACT Artists Development Grant, Canberra ACT
Artists Mentor and Resident Artist, Bathing With Mary project, Cooloola Shire Public Gallery
in collaboration with Gympie Landcare, Noosa Regional Gallery and Hervey Bay Regional Gallery, QLD
artsACT Artists Development Grant, Canberra ACT
Megalo Access Arts Inc Artist Residency, Canberra ACT
ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES) Environmental Art Award, ACT
Visiting Scholar Program, University of Canberra ACT
Artist Residency, Noosa River Project, Noosa Regional Gallery
Environmental Art Award, ANU Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES)
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Fieldwork and Research
2007
2006-7
.
2005
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
1999
.
1998
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Scottsdale, NSW, Bush Heritage Australia Field Studies
Fieldwork on private properties of the Lake George catchment in collaboration with the
Department of the Environment, NSW
Drawing residency at The Australian National Herbarium, CSIRO, ACT
Workshops at Lake Gnotuk, VIC (funded by NetsVictoria)
Research, mentoring and lecturing for Bathing With Mary Project QLD
Field trip to Cooloola National Park, Qld, with Drs Cliff Thompson AM and Joe Walker CSIRO
Field trip to the Noosa River with Noosa River Ranger QLD
Field trips as Lecturer with ANU School of Art students to Jervis Bay NSW
Visiting Scholar Program - Jervis Bay research from Faculties of Archaeology and Freshwater
Ecology, University of Canberra, ACT
Field work and lectures in collaboration with Noosa Shire Council and Noosa Parks Association, QLD
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Conferences
Baselines-Colonisation and Conservation, Willeroo, Craft ACT forum, August 15, 2008.
BASELINES: COLONISATION AND CONSERVATION is a one day forum that will provide an opportunity to
explore the possibilities that art and artists can bring to expand and enhance our experiences of unique
environments and their conservation.
The forum complements the exhibition Baseline: Remnant Grasslands at Weereewa/Lake George, an
exhibition of panoramic format paintings by Christine James and sculptural constructions by Beth Hatton
at Craft ACT Gallery 1. This project touches on issues of art and the environment. The artists' work
responds to the processes of colonisation which changed the landscape and celebrates the resilience
of the indigenous grassland and ecosystems which have prevailed. The exhibition and forum provide a
contemporary interpretation of environmental land practices and the role of art as an agent for social
discourse.
BASELINES: COLONISATION AND CONSERVATION brings together environment and the arts in a
unique collaborative project, providing cross fertilisation and the sharing of stories to uncover new
ways to understand our environment in a post colonial framework.
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Recent Bibliography
2008
2008
2008
2008
2008
2006
2006
2005
2004
2004
2003
2003
2001
2001
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McCracken, G. "Baseline: Remnant Grassland of Weereewa/Lake George" artsACT
www.weereewafestival.org
Kelly, P. "Lake Gathering" Catalogue essay (part of the Weereewa Festival)
Musa, H. "Lake's festival of mystery" The Canberra Times
Sjostedt A. "Artistic tribute to a splendid lake" The Canberra Times, p9.
Beeby, R. "Lost in Landscape" The Canberra Times Times 2 pp3-5. May 8
Lamb, J. "Footprints on the Lake" Goulburn Regional Gallery Catalogue
Clabburn, A. "Lake Gnotuk: A Layered History" Geelong Gallery Catalogue
Arthur, J. Christine James and Cooloola. artsACT
Kelly, P. "The Secrets of Lakes" Art Monthly Australia, August
Jackson Nakano, A. "The Kamberri" Aboriginal History, ANU
Jackson Nakano, A. "The Pajong and Wallabalooa" Aboriginal History, ANU
Copeland, J. "Federation" ABC Radio National, Arts Talk
Chandler, L. "Reflections of the Noosa River" Artlink Vol 21 No 1
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