Margaret Carnegie Gallery: April 2 - May 31, 2010

 
Days of Summer on display in the Margaret Carnegie Gallery, 2010

Salvatore Zofrea, one of Australia's most accomplished woodcut artists, is most well known for his narrative works, allegorical and religious in tone. In Days of Summer, Zofrea has taken a new direction and used the very distinctive Australian landscape as his inspiration to express the exuberance of life and his 'wonder at the manifestation of God' in the natural environment. This series of woodcut prints, featuring native flowers and birdlife, presents to the viewer the life, colour and movement found in the bushland close to his studio in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.

Zofrea notes that he was inspired to create this series of new work after finding a new appreciation for the beauty and abundance he saw in the Australian bush. Having been born in Italy, Zofrea was intrigued by the 'prickly sharp points' in the Australian flora, so different from the flowers and foliage found across Europe. Zofrea adds that, 'with these large landscapes, I want to convery the impression of mankind in scale with nature - to give the full visual impact of walking in the bushland and the mental satisfaction of texture and scent.'
 

Salvatore Zofrea, Illawarra Flametree 2008, hand coloured woodcut
 

A Maitland Regional Art Gallery Touring Exhibition