Micheila Petersfield & Lisa Garland

25 May – 18 June 2022

Opening Event Friday 27 May 5:30pm

Despard Gallery is pleased to host Portraits, a joint exhibition by two of Tasmania’s leading contemporary photographers, Micheila Petersfield and Lisa Garland.  Each artist has developed a new series entirely in black and white, employing its sensitivity and strength that is unparalleled when it comes to photographic portraiture.  Although working at opposite ends of this creative space, both have utilised the natural focus on forms, textures and contrast that comes without the saturation of colour, allowing the essence of the sitter to becomes strengthened.

Lisa Garland is an artist and educator based on the North West Coast of Tasmania, practicing in traditional silver-gelatin and large format photography.  With a devoted focus on people and places, Garland has spent the last twenty years documenting local residents, including family, friends and strangers alike, presenting her sitters seemingly blending into their possessions.  Observational, intimate and compellingly candid, Garland’s black and white images draw out the authenticity of her subjects, the personal spaces they occupy becoming an extension of their personality.

Micheila Petersfield is a contemporary photographer based in Hobart.  Her practice critiques the idealised portrayal of women in popular media through subversive interpretations of familiar feminine tropes. Petersfield retains complete artistic control over every creation, operating as choreographer, costume designer, model and photographer.  Borrowing from the flawless aesthetics of popular media and fashion imagery, Petersfield meticulously modifies her appearance through the use of costumes, makeup, digital manipulation and postproduction, adopting multiple personas through transformative self-portraiture. 

This joint exhibition was put together to demonstrate how black and white photography remains highly pertinent in contemporary art, contributing to a larger conversation around how portraiture can portray a single presence, yet simultaneously convey a much deeper narrative that reflects on the human condition.  This is seen within the practice of both Garland and Petersfield, each artist creating powerful connections from utilising the fragile balance between softness and intensity that only a black and white photograph can achieve.

Click here to register your interest for Micheila Petersfield & Lisa Garland. 

 

 

 

Framed Photographs:

All images are high resolution digital print on archival Platine Paper. For framing, these are laid on aluminium, which is both acid free and completely stable. Each print is framed using a hand finished wooden moulding, either black or white. Frame size is 40 mm deep with a 20 mm face, glazed using a high UV resistant and special non-reflective Latvian made ARTGLASS. This selection of the highest quality materials and processes ensures the artworks are enhanced through museum quality presentation and remain archival.

 

DIGITAL EXHIBITION CATALOGUE