beautiful junk - rosalie gascoigne

Rosalie Gascoigne
1917-1999

rosalie gascoigne is a much-lauded and much-copied australian artist. aside from finding her work beautiful i find her story equally fascinating.

Metropolis, 1999
retro reflective roadsign on wood
232 × 319.5cm

gascoigne emigrated to australia from new zealand with her astronomer husband. her husband's job at the mount stromlo observatory took the couple to canberra where gascoigned developed a strong appreciation for the australian landscape. while a housewife and mother of three, gascoigne harboured a love for "the pleasures of the eye" and explored ikebana, the japanese art of flower arranging. she also undertook fossicking missions in the surrounding countryside, collecting materials along the way, such as scrap iron, branches etc and created sculptures with these found objects.

this is the part that thrills me most... gascoigne held her first serious exhibition in 1974, when she was 57 (57!) she was an instant success and has become famous for her artworks featuring weathered pieces of wood, boxes, feathers, corrugated iron, floor tiles and specifically, yellow reflective road signs. the artist continued to work well into her 80s.

being a fan of the "cut it up and make it into something else" modus operandi, to me gascoigne's work seems to vibrate. the materials with which they're made are recognisable but they've been transformed into a atmospheric piece of geometry that speaks of the landscape that wore away at them. her artworks also remind me of the farm that my father grew up on, a place i spent many weekends, dry and isolated, it's filled with the remains of my father's childhood - rusty cans, faded books and magazines, decades-old clothing, aged farming equipment, all battered by the passing of time and the elements.

Untitled (12 squares of 6), 1980-81
sawn weathered wood
90 × 119.5cm

not yet titled (Red Squares), 1999
retro reflective roadsign on wood
2 panels, 64 x 37.5 cm each

Medusa, 1998
retro reflective roadsign on wood
70 × 70cm

Untitled (two linoleum tesserae), 1994-95
linoleum on plywood
2 panels: 23 x 16.5 x 1.5 cm, overall dimensions 23 x 35 x 1.5 cm

Full Fathom Five, 1998
sawn wood on wood
84 × 80cm

Untitled (chart), 1992-93
22.
Torn linoleum on plywood
40.5 × 42.5 × 2cm

more information
roslyn oxley gallery
rosalie gascoigne - australian biography
interview with gascoigne before a major retrospective of her work at the art gallery of nsw in 1997

Comments

[Julian Jones]

I'm seen some of her work but ever that much. I love the found object thing and i'm also a fan of the "cut it up and make it into something else" way of working.

[Juliet Bucknell]

im in grade 11 and am studying her as part of my assignment.

i love that she has no real purpose behind her art and it just seems to convey a sort of deep down emotion she was having.

another great thing about her is that she calls herself an arranger not a scuplturor because she already likes the things that she collets and doesnt just make some out of say a lump of clay.

her artwork is refreshing and to me it gives a laid back sense of tranquility and simplicity of an outback lifestyle . i enjoy it alot.

i love untitled(chart)1992-93
i wish there was more information about it. i am comparing it to Jan Billycan's artwork All The Jila 2006 for my assignment :)

thats my say.