Provenance
Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane
Ian Still, Brisbane 1977-1987
Clinton Tweedie, Melbourne 1987-1991
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 1991
Exhibited
Objects (six artists making assemblages of objects), Ray Hughes Gallery, Brisbane, 5-24 March 1977
Literature
G. Langer, 'Courier Mail', Brisbane 12 March 1977
Pam Bell, 'The Australian', 15 March 1977
Michael Bogle, 'Art Land', 'Vogue Living', March 1989, pp 80-87, illus. p. 84 (article on Clinton Tweedie's collection)
Vici MacDonald, 'Rosalie Gascoigne', Sydney, 1998, p. 37
Rosalie Gascoigne has a place in the pantheon of Australian art stars, and has left a legacy of work that is not only informed by the visual language of this country but has, in turn, strongly influenced its vernacular as well. Blue Water (1977) is an intimate, intricate assemblage from a period of Rosalie Gascoigne's early practice focused on the use of wooden boxes to create small dioramas. The work is composed entirely of materials found scavenging in the Canberra Hinterland, Gascoigne's home for more than fifty years. In what has been called the artist's "poetry of the commonplace", she used everyday materials from the Australian landscape to evoke a sense of place, its people, and the passage of time.
'Blue Water' has Gascoigne's signature rustic aesthetic and palette of the land, and yet is unique in that it also speaks of the off-shore and colonial history of Australia. She assembles this story against a backdrop of Sydney Harbour cut from the Toohey's Bitter Ale tin with an inspired selection of objects including maritime flags cut also from the beer tin, an ensemble of waving dolls arms, a fire extinguisher label and a Capstan Navy cut cigarette box. Like a time capsule, it is a work that evokes a history of a particular time and place, lovingly compiled from objects with histories of their own.
Courtesy of the artist's estate and Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney