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Shirley Diez – Greenhood orchids

$450.00

Edition:

1/10

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Shirley Diez
Greenhood orchids, 2026

Linogravure printed with water-based ink
Edition of 10 + 2 A/P
Image Size 32×23cm / Paper Size 46×38cm

Artist Statement
I’ve been making prints at Baldessin Studio since 2019 and have completed a number of courses there to learn more about the various techniques that are possible. With my focus on the natural world and appreciation of hand-crafted art in a more digital world, Baldessin Studios and it’s people have provided an important hub for me.

The linocut print Greenhood orchids is my interpretation of the beautiful and complex life of small, communal, terrestrial orchids. Each plant has a tuber that produces a rosette of leaves each year, followed by green and white striped translucent nodding flowers. The above-ground part of the plant then dies and the tuber goes back to sleep. These orchids have a special relationship with a fungus that helps them to absorb nutrients from the soil.

Shirley Diez (b.1968) is an ecologist and printmaker. Her designs centre on the natural world and particularly the small and often overlooked things. She has been making art in various media for over 40 years, with the past 10 years focused on printmaking. Most of her work is crafted by carving designs into linoleum and printing onto thick papers with water-based inks.

@shirley_elsa_diez

Shirley Diez
Greenhood orchids, 2026

Linogravure printed with water-based ink
Edition of 10 + 2 A/P
Image Size 32×23cm / Paper Size 46×38cm

Artist Statement
I’ve been making prints at Baldessin Studio since 2019 and have completed a number of courses there to learn more about the various techniques that are possible. With my focus on the natural world and appreciation of hand-crafted art in a more digital world, Baldessin Studios and it’s people have provided an important hub for me.

The linocut print Greenhood orchids is my interpretation of the beautiful and complex life of small, communal, terrestrial orchids. Each plant has a tuber that produces a rosette of leaves each year, followed by green and white striped translucent nodding flowers. The above-ground part of the plant then dies and the tuber goes back to sleep. These orchids have a special relationship with a fungus that helps them to absorb nutrients from the soil.

Shirley Diez (b.1968) is an ecologist and printmaker. Her designs centre on the natural world and particularly the small and often overlooked things. She has been making art in various media for over 40 years, with the past 10 years focused on printmaking. Most of her work is crafted by carving designs into linoleum and printing onto thick papers with water-based inks.

@shirley_elsa_diez

To mark its 25th year, Baldessin Studio has embarked on a very special project—inviting 53 members of its community to create an editionable print for the Baldessin Studio 25th Anniversary Print Collection. Launching at Sydney Contemporary, the collection is a celebration of the incredible community of artists who engage in the life of the studio, as well as a fundraiser to ensure the organisation can continue its work and sustain its vision, “to inspire and enable innovative printmaking whilst upholding the Baldessin ethic of fostering creativity in all forms”.

Launch / Sydney Contemporary, Sydney, Sept 3-6th 2026 Exhibition / Australian Galleries, Melbourne, Nov 10–8th 2026