Skying: Cloudscapes in Tasmanian Art

Head into the clouds with Libraries Tasmania’s new exhibition

Skying: Cloudscapes in Tasmanian Art is an atmospheric installation by Tasmanian artist Tracey Cockburn, exploring the unique and ephemeral qualities of light and clouds in Tasmanian painting, through contemporary print techniques.

Studying the works of early Tasmanian artists and looking back to the influences of English romantic artists, John Constable and J.M.W. Turner, the evocative exhibition draws inspiration from the obsession with capturing the unique light of the Tasmanian landscape and atmosphere.

Accompanying Cockburn’s original work will be View of Mount Wellington from Risdon by W.C. Piguenit [1875], from the Allport collection.

Piguenit departed from earlier colonial artists in such works by placing an emphasis on atmospheric conditions of mist and clouds enhancing the drama of his subjects and the romantic landscape. The painting’s delicate depiction of a clouded sky started a journey of enquiry leading to the Skying exhibition.

Skying: Cloudscapes in Tasmanian Art by Tracey Cockburn will be showing at the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts from 11 November.