Works on Paper
Works on Paper
From the time of her NSW Travelling Arts Scholarship, Madigan was known for her exceptional draughtsmanship. Her life drawings exhibit consumate mastery, developing a refinement in which she was able to describe the solid form in a few simple lines. During her years in Sydney she was able to use this expertise to support herself teaching life drawing at East Sydney Tech. She much preferred this to teaching sculpture, which she found distracting. Her sense of colour was unusual for someone primarily known as a sculptor, and she had a number of exhibitions of still life works on paper (primarily in pastel, but also other media such as coloured transparent stick-on media and collage). Numerous sketchbooks are filled with exquisite finished works, most coming not from life but from her imagination.
On this page: Heads; Pastels and still life; Life Drawing; Collage; “Glitzies”; “Scratchies”.
“I think of drawing as the centre from which radiate the many aspects of art, including painting and sculpture. I find it the basis of my work, the teacher of knowledge and vision. It is also complete in itself and has a life of its own. I use drawing in a sculptural way, to deal with and understand form in its three dimensional aspect. I enjoy the sense of freedom that it gives to spontaneously state true image as a contrast to the slower process of sculpture with all its attendant physical problems. I find exactly the same process at work in drawing and sculpture which calls into play the identical powers to manipulate the organisation of the page, the form, the space, the geometry of the whole. Working in pastel from still life adds the fascination of perceiving from direct perception with the added impulse of immediate impression by means of colour. I use flowers as a starting point but they are not necessarily important in themselves and are used to hone my perceptions of sculptural form. The same is true for the life drawings, that is, interest in the concept of form rather than the mood, type or personality of the figure.'“
Rosemary Madigan, 1985
Heads
From the time she moved to Yass, Madigan started to create large heads using pastels or charcoal. Most of these from her imagination, or from figures who had inspired her through her life such as mythological godesses and saints, as well as portraits. Often she would comment that ”I have no idea where she came from…”
Pastels and still life
This large pastel (2m x 2.3m) was Madigan’s last major work on paper, and filled the whole size of her sliding workshop door.
Life Drawing
This series of life drawings, demonstrating Madigan’s supreme skill in this form, were made on Japanese scrolls. The idea of scrolls was intended by Madigan as a way to present life drawing in a more complete package for the viewer. The scrolls have now been converted to high quality digital format: see the two examples below, and click here to see two longer scrolls:
Click to see a sketch book of life drawing on the NSW Art Gallery site
Collage - coloured transparencies
A series of collages using adhesive coloured transparency paper.
Collage - cut outs and assemblages
Collage using cutouts from an Art Deco sample book
Collage using cut out pieces of adhesive coloured transparency work.
Sea and Landscapes IV: compilation work comprising a number of adhesive coloured transparency works.
"Glitzies"
Collages from adhesive metalic paper. The light refracts, creating different colours as the viewer moves.
"Scratchies"
Black board, scratched back to reveal underlay of white, then colored.
David Jones (Sydney) exhibition:
Works on paper in various media.
Print: Torso Made for Westmead Children’s Hospital Fundraising (Sydney)