Printmakers gather for local show

A PLETHORA of works from the Goldfields Printmakers collective are on show at the Old Butchers Shop Gallery as part of the Gathering exhibition.

Group founder and Federation University Arts Academy lecturer Jimmy Pasakos said the showcase is about highlighting the breadth of printmaking in the region.

“There’s no real theme in the exhibition,” he said. “It’s a gathering of thoughts, of place, a gathering of a collective.

“The term gathering is a loose theme that everyone adapted to quite quickly because there were no restrictions.

“With printmaking, there’s different elements of methodologies and disciplines. We’re talking photography, digital print, etching, relief prints and monotypes.

“There are these different elements presented which I think is wonderful to see because there are a lot of people who probably don’t know about the differences in printmaking and the layers underneath it.”

Pasakos established Goldfields Printmakers group in 2012 following the 2011 IMPACT7 conference at Monash University around international multi-disciplinary printmaking concepts and techniques.

The collective has exhibited in several annual IMPACT conferences overseas as well as in local galleries and other regional Victorian venues.

About 15 group members are featured in the Gathering exhibition, with 25 pieces on display.

“There are landscapes with people working around different themes like regional areas or industrial themes,” Pasakos said.

“There are themes of nature and environment. There’s also quite abstract ideas and figurative works.”

Pasakos estimated the show is the group’s first local one since Borders and Crossings at the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 2013 which later appeared in Dundee, Scotland for IMPACT8.

The group is set to continue their local activity with an exhibition at Ross Creek Gallery next year. Gathering is on show until 22 September.

The Old Butchers Shop Gallery is open on weekends from 12pm to 4pm or by appointment.