Elizabeth Gower

Various details from the work of Melbourne artist Elizabeth Gower

Respected Melbourne artist Elizabeth Gower makes amazing geometric paper-cut artworks using collected printed ephemera, packaging and magazine pages.  By re-purposing these remnants of popular culture, Elizabeth explores ideas of consumerism and consumption - a topic she has been inspired by since the 1970's.

In an impressive career spanning over 30 years, Elizabeth has been the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including grants from the Australia Council and Victorian Ministry for the Arts.  Her work has been commissioned for many high profile public buildings including the Melbourne World Trade Centre, MCG and the Sydney Olympics Superdome, and has been acquired by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, National Gallery of Victoria and the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra!

Elizabeth says her works over the past few years have all had different starting points, and are heavily influenced by her surroundings and by travel.  'My last show was Cuttings from New York, made exclusively from papers collected in New York while I had the residency at the Australia Council studio in 2009. The format or design was derived from the gridded layout of Manhattan. Other shows have been Savings, using up all the papers I had saved for over 20 years, or Cuttings from Paris referencing wallpapers from the Musee Carnalvalet on papers collected while at the Cité International des Arts.'

Elizabeth's newest show opens tomorrow at Sutton Gallery in Fitzroy.  The exhibition, entitled 'Monochrome', showcases a striking new body of work created entirely from black and white pages sliced from glossy magazines and advertising imagery - well worth a look if you're in Fitzroy this weekend!

Artwork by Elizabeth Gower for her new show at Sutton Gallery - Monochrome

Artwork by Elizabeth Gower for her new show - Monochrome