Perth Voice Interactive

THERE’S a searing honesty to Angela Stewart’s art.

The North Fremantle-based artist likes to peel back the layers to expose the doubt that occurs during the early stages of creating a painting.

She then uses that to fashion something unique and a bit meta.

One of her techniques involves painting a face, photographing it, then painting on the print to create something beautiful and slightly haunting.

It’s like a sophsticated version of those weird full-length mirrors at the fun fair.

“I have always been interested in people. Faces, the wash of expressions as a language spoken or unspoken between another … the touch of a hand, the nuance of expression, the age, the cultural identity,” Stewart says.

“It is the making of the work, the underbelly with drawing, photography and paint, the underbelly of process in and around the portrait that interest me. How our lives become stories.”

Stewart has specialised in portraiture for the past four decades and has been influenced by artists like Kathe Kollwitz, Cindy Sherman and Tacita Dean.

“As a young woman I developed a feminist stance examining painting and art books, researching the portrayal of woman in the cannon of Western Art,” she says.

“Over the years I have gathered groups of people to make bodies of work.”

These days Stewart is inspired by Italian renaissance art, especially Sofonisba Anguissola, a renowned 16th century painter who she researched for her Doctorate of Creative Art at Curtin University. 

At that time, art was transitioning from fresco to easel painting, forcing artists to reassess their style and technique.

“I became interested in the notion of artist’s doubt,” she says.

“The gestural style of my painting altered into a darker palette.

“The sensitivity of line will always be a pathway, my oeuvre leading from one epoch to the next leading in and beyond the portrait into flora or horses.”

After graduating with a BA in Fine Art in 1988, Stewart went on to exhibit in solo and group exhibitions around the world and her work is in several major collections including Curtin University, BHP Billiton, The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University.

She also lectured in art for several years at tertiary institutions including a lengthy spell at Central Institute of Technology in Perth, and completed a Masters in Visual Art and a Doctorate in Creative Arts at Curtin University.

Her latest exhibition Memory: 40 Years of Making features paintings, drawings and painted photography from throughout her career and documents her evolution as an artist.

It’s at Gallery Central (North Metropolitan TAFE) 12 Aberdeen Street in Perth from May 1 to 23. There’s an artists talk with Angela Stewart and Soula Vouyoucalos-Veyradier on May 8 at 12pm. For more info see www.artcollectivewa.com.au. 

by STEPHEN POLLOCK