Louisa Chircop

Arty Act: Manipulating Chance

Mixed media art making

‘Manipulating Chance’ - An automatic drawing using photomontage and mixed media.

This approach to drawing allows you to draw without thinking and is a form of doodling using a variety of materials to simulate mark making, pattern and texture, shape, colour, form, line or tone. The resulting image and composition evolves from avoiding all conscious control over the image. Let it flow!

You will need:

• 220-300 gsm watercolour or mixed media
• Paper glue (eg: Yamato rice paste is best!)
• Scissors
• Magazines or any source material for photomontage
• Masking tape
• A selection of paint brushes
• Paper towel
• Palette and water jars
• Watercolours, gouache, pencils, pens etc

Instructions

Get to Know Louisa Chircop

Born in Sydney, Chircop holds an Associate Diploma in Fine Arts from St George TAFE and was awarded the NSW State Commission medal for fine arts. She has won the Basil Muriel and Hooper Scholarship AGNSW. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours Class1 and a Master of Fine Arts Research degree in painting both from the College of Fine Arts UNSW assisted by an Australian Post Graduate Award Scholarship. Chircop has been a finalist in many prizes including the Dobell Prize AGNSW; the Portia Geach Memorial Award exhibited at the SH Ervin Gallery. Her work was acquired from the Kedumba Drawing Award for the Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings which is considered one of the most significant and important collections in Australia. She has won the James Gleeson Prize for Surrealism at Campbelltown Arts Centre twice, the FOH Hazelhurst Art on Paper Award, the John Copes Portrait Prize and twice been the Critics’ Choice of Guardian Art Critic and ABC Arts Presenter Andrew Frost. In 2015 she was a feature artist in Artist Profile magazine and most recently in 2018 she was awarded the coveted Bundanon Trust Artist-in-residence. She’s been awarded residencies with Hurstville Regional Art Gallery and Museum and DRAWinternational in France commencing in 2021 and was recently invited as a podcast guest on Maria Stoljar’s very popular ‘Talking with Painters’ Australian podcast series.