Megalo × University House Print Editions: Kate Vassallo

At the time of its opening in 1954, University House was described as “something of a museum of Australian contemporary art”. Designated as ANU’s number one building, University House’s purpose was to serve as a cultural and social centre for university life.

With its new refurbishment University House has commissioned a new series of artworks for the accommodation suites, by contemporary Canberra artists, all alumni of the ANU School of Art & Design – Emma Beer, Ham Darroch, James Lieutenant, Lani Shea-An, Kate Vassallo and Naomi Zouwer.

Briefed to create works which would harmoniously integrate with the heritage of the House’s design, the six artists paired with professional printmakers from Megalo Print Studio, Canberra. In these collaborations are echoes of the early collegial ambiance of University House, where the daily interactions implicit in living in an academic community would surely have given rise to interdisciplinary approaches to research, teaching and learning. In this series of posts we will preview each artist and work.

Kate Vassallo
Glistening
Lithograph

Kate Vassallo’s artworks arise from interactions of tightly held control and the dynamism of organic growth. In her methodical, material-based process, hard-edge geometry is counter-balanced by chance-led intuition, emerging variously as energy pulsing fields of coloured line and hovering tissue-thin skins of tinted light. Vassallo’s process acknowledges the agency of the artwork as it comes into being. Time unfolds as compositions build over infinite grounds, ambiguity and nostalgia reverberating between dense patches of colour and line. Vassallo has teamed up with Megalo print maker Clare Jackson to translate the delicate, layered complexity of her work into the ancient language of lithography.  

When considering how to approach this print edition, I was interested in ways to retain a handmade, human touch. The Megalo staff guided me towards lithography, where you draw on a stone, enabling your direct gestures to be reproduced. There’s a lovely sense of time-travel in using such a historic printmaking method. The alchemy of the process has been mesmerising, while connecting with these materials that have so much history imbedded in them – stone, oil and water.

Not coming from a printmaking background, it was really special to work with the Megalo team to find a material approach that resonated with me. Experimentation and conversation made me realise that my own layered painting process has a lot in common with constructing a print. I work in a fairly methodical, structured way – using systems and rules to guide my process-based abstraction. Each layer of the print has been created using chance to inform the abstract shapes. Each of these layers were drawn onto their own prepared stone, then each one printed in a different bright but transparent colour. When stacked on top of one another, the colours merge with those above and below, becoming more complicated with each layer. The print has been made on a hand painted light magenta ground I prepared in my studio, meaning each edition has a slightly varied gesture and softness within it.

Kate Vassallo

Kate Vassallo graduated from the ANU School of Art with First class Honours and the University Medal in 2010. She has since exhibited regularly throughout Australia, including exhibitions at Art Gallery of New South Wales, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery and Canberra Contemporary Art Space.

Image: Printer Clare Jackson working on Kate Vassallo’s Glistening, lithograph at Megalo Print Studio. Photo: Megalo Print Studio