ELIZABETH DOBRILLA
Mizu-Nami-Rising
Elizabeth Dobrilla, an Australian artist of Yugoslavian origins, lived in Japan for seven years. In Japan, she developed a unique perception of the symbols and icons around her, from the sacred Chrysanthemum, representing the Imperial seal to pop-cultural icons and a collective obsession with Cute (‘Kawaii’).
The intensity of Elizabeth’s surroundings and her tiny apartment in Yokohama, a port city near Tokyo, led her to abandon print-making for the vast possibilities of the canvas. Upon the canvas she explored her sense of alienation, resisting tidy clichés about the complex society she found herself in.
Years after, Elizabeth revisits these symbols from her East St Kilda apartment. Her new digital collage works are based on the theme of water. Since her return from Japan, she has experienced repetitive dreams featuring water in different forms, such as the ocean, a pool, in a bowl, through a tidal wave, etc. In Western Culture, dreams about water manifesting in various forms typically represent the different emotional states and journeys of the dreamer. Via this new body of work, Elizabeth would like the viewer to get some sense of her emotional journey, inspired by the symbols she has encountered in her past.
Elizabeth Dobrilla was a finalist in the Shell Fremantle Print Award in 1997, 1999 and 2000, the Silk-Cut Award for Linocut Prints in 1998 and 2000 and the Swan Hill National Print and Drawing Acquisitive Awards in 2000. In 1999 Port Jackson Press commissioned her to create a series of etchings for the Park Hyatt Hotel Melbourne, and the Westin Hotel, Sydney. This year her work has been seen in the Linden Postcard Show and in Fair and Square at Charles Sturt University Gallery, N.S.W. Her work is represented in several public and private collections nationally and internationally including the Australian War Memorial, Monash University, BHP Billiton, Artbank, Port Jackson Press and Forbo-Krommenie, Amsterdam.
Please join us for a drink with Elizabeth on FRIDAY 1st APRIL 6:30pm – 8:30pm.
The exhibition closes on 25th April.