BARBIE KJAR
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BIOGRAPHY
Barbie Kjar is a Tasmanian artist, now living in Melbourne who has completed a Masters of Fine Art at RMIT, Melbourne and Bachelor of Fine Arts and Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart. She has undertaken residencies in Barcelona, Havana, San Francisco, Mexico City and Tokyo. Since 1986 she has held 34 solo exhibitions in Australia and more recently in Barcelona and Tokyo. Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions in Australia, China, Korea, Siberia, France, Canada, USA and Japan. Barbie Kjar’s work has been purchased by the Australian National Gallery, Canberra; Parliament House, Canberra; Wagga Wagga Gallery; National Gallery of Victoria; Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery; Fremantle Arts Centre; Grafton Regional Gallery; Queensland University of Technology; Gold Coast City Art Gallery; University of Southern Queensland and is held in private collections in USA, France, Sweden, England and Australia.
CONNECTION TO BALDESSIN STUDIO
I have been teaching printmaking workshops in wood lithography, drypoint and carborundum at Baldessin press since 2015.
Since moving to Melbourne from Hobart in 2017 I have also been doing a lot of printing at Baldessin Studio. I can work there until late in the night and it is wonderful to stretch out in the studio, with paper, rolled out slabs of ink and experiment with the print process. The generosity of the people, the sharing of food, amazing conversations, Silvi’s famous energetic soundtracks, flying plant sculptures, George Baldessin’s work. What a paradise! - Barbie Kjar
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
My work is concerned with portrait and identity/ belonging/narratives.
The portrait of Vimal is from a series titled Mother Tongue in which I investigated the link between people and the influence of mother tongue on identity.
Vimal and his father are master tilers from Puglia, Italy. I have depicted him wearing a red Indian turban to reflect his strong spiritual side. He seems like an Indian prince. I have superimposed patterns from Italian tiles in the turban and included text from a pop singer from Puglia in the creases of his shirt.
Circe is part of a series on Stories of the Sea. The character Circe from Homer’s classic The Odyssey, seduced Ulysses on his journey back to Troy. The portrait is of Tasmanian filmmaker Ninna Milligan who has Greek heritage and is feisty and creative. She seemed like a Circe with her lively hair and sensuous gaze.
