These two works on paper originate from a series of eight impressions of spiral forms, originally sculpted from multiple strands of copper wire. The technique employed is unique and perhaps related to an etching or chemical process where copper salts have inscribed the paper surface. This enables a very delicate trace to delineate the original form in two dimensions. Both images record the same object but combine their impact, reflecting each other symmetrically across a vertical axis. The natural world is clearly influential for the artist who displayed prodigious talent during an unfortunately shortened career. By her thirties, she'd already generated a significant body of work that surpassed her contemporaries in terms of its complexity, maturity, and aesthetic development. Some of her spiral forms resemble the interior of conichal shells or mammalian sensory components like the auditory cochlea. They also relate to weather patterns, centrifugal movement of fluids or electromagnetic particles. Since her works are regularly sought and tightly held, opportunities for collectors are limited, particularly around the price estimated here. Auction estimate (AU $10,000 - $15,000)
Price realised at Auction: AU $30,682