Jo Lankester

Topographia: harmonies of place

Onespace 11 April - 10 May 2025

Jo Lankester’s Topographia: harmonies of place

In richly layered prints, Jo Lankester evokes the texture of Queensland’s north. A recent move onto the foreshore of Townsville’s North Ward, an established beachside suburb overlooking the sea toward Magnetic Island, has ushered birds into the foreground of her imagery, along with the trees, undergrowth, and lichens that attract them. Behind the abstracted layers of her prints is an ambient tropical light exuding local heat, warmth, and fecundity.

In this exhibition, she includes the black and white cockatoos, which frequent the local almond trees between September and March (when they produce seeds). She describes these birds as ‘curious and confident characters’, overlaying their images on surfaces constructed like the lichens Lankester finds so compelling—thick, deep and full of mysterious organic layers. This background shines through the images of the birds, the texture and tenor of their form denoting their sensitivity and longevity—as avian creatures (the great survivors of the dinosaur age)—within the global ecosystem.

In Kapok (2025) the deep red surface is built up with layers, flowers embroidered into the paper with hemp cord, drawing parallels between the cotton tree and its shared resilience and symbiotic relationship with lichen. This fungal colony compiles environmental histories, holding evidence of weather and passing insects captured amongst its detritus—sensed in the scratchy surfaces and irregular layers of ink embedded in the background.

In Terminilia Cattappa–Beach Almond (2025), Lankester introduces a new ‘mokulito’ process, with the woodblock technique developing a quieter background, allowing for ‘the single branch stretching across the paper to recall my observations of the beach almond tree on my walk: a selective memory.’

There is a shift, in this work, toward the observational, that accompanies Lankester’s ongoing environmental sensitivity; stitched lines symbolise an instinct to mend the landscape. ‘The use of collage too is deliberate; I’m all too aware that, one day, neither lichen nor birds may survive. In this work, perhaps I am collaging their vibrant existence into perennial memory.’ As in her previous practice, the work is an evocation of her material memory, layered by the tangibility of her experiences—physical, tactile, emotional—in this place.

23 March 2025

Louise Martin-Chew

Jo Lankester

W: jolankester.com | Onespace

 

Professional Summary

 

Jo Lankester is a printmaker based in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking in 1994 at the Victorian College of the Arts and relocated to Townsville in 1998. Jo has held seven solo exhibitions and received numerous awards and grants. She has also undertaken over ten commissions, residencies, and curatorial projects. Jo is an accomplished printmaker who specialises in multi-colour plate intaglio and planographic printing. Her artwork not only celebrates the natural world but also addresses the pressing issue of climate change and its impact on our ecosystem. Jo draws inspiration from the diverse landscapes of her local region, including the dry and wet tropical areas extending west to Charters Towers, Magnetic Island, and north to Weipa. Her work often focuses on lichens and birds, reflecting the seasonal changes in her surroundings.

Education

 

Bachelor of Fine Arts – Printmaking, Victorian College of the Arts

1994

 

Achievements

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS                        
2025 Topographia: harmonies of place, Onespace, Qld

2022 Luminous Microhabitats, Onespace, Qld

2020 Mind's Eye: Mapping the Landscape, Onespace, Qld
2019 Accretion: Mapping the landscape, Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts, Qld  
2015 Symbiosis, The Art Vault, Mildura, Vic
2014 Cornerstone, major solo exhibition, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville, Qld
2008 Grass Trees, a little white space, The Brewery, Townsville, Qld
2000 Reflections: Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Niche Space, Townsville, Qld  

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023 Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Exhibition, 2023, Queensland Regional Art Awards, Touring Exhibition

2022 Legacy: reflections on Mabo national tour, Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts

2020 Libris Awards; The Australian Artists' Book Prize, Artspace Mackay, Qld
2019 4th Global Print, Douro, Portugal
2018 PCA Print Commission, seven venues, Vic, NSW, QLD, TAS, WA
2018 Inkmasters Print Exhibition, Cairns, Qld
2017 Peebles Print Prize, Finalists Exhibition, Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop, Vic
2017 3rd Global Print, Douro, Portugal
2017 Partners in Print, Inkmasters Cairns & Sydney Printmakers, Kick Arts, Contemporary Arts, Cairns, and Spot81 Gallery
2016 Inkmasters Print Exhibition, Tank Arts Centre, Cairns, Qld
2016 She Exhibition, Walker St Gallery & Arts Centre, Dandenong, Vic
2016 39th Alice Price, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT
2015 The Australian Print Triennial, Print Prize, Mildura, Victoria
2013 Strand Ephemera 2013, The Strand, Gallery Services, Townsville, Qld
2012 Connections, Queensland Regional Art Awards Touring Exhibition, John Flynn Place Museum & Gallery, Cloncurry, Mt Isa Civic Centre, Mt Isa, State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, Tyto Regional Art Gallery, Ingham, Qld
2011 Strand Ephemera, The strand, Gallery Services, Townsville, Qld
1994 Canson Student Print Award: Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Vic

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Onespace Represented Artists: Riverine, Onespace, Qld

The artist has an extensive exhibition history spanning over two decades, with works featured in group exhibitions from 1995 to 2021.

 

COLLECTIONS
National Gallery of Australia Prints and Drawings collection, Art Bank, Artspace Mackay, Canson, Camberwell Grammar School, Grafton Regional Gallery, Lake Macquarie Art Gallery, Presbyterian Ladies College, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Print Council of Australia Archive, Shelford Girls Grammar, State Library of Queensland, State Library of Victoria, Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, Westbourne Grammar City of Yarra, Douro Museum Printmaking Collection Portugal. Queensland Health, Townsville. 

Works held in National and International private collections. 

 

CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2024 Seven + Seven: printmaking across unknown terrain, Pinnacles Gallery, Townsville City Galleries

2022 Recent Acquisition: City of Townsville Art Collection, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville City Galleries

2016 Belonging: in the Tropics, a Bookplate Exchange Folio by PressNorth Printmakers, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville City Galleries
2014 PressNorth Printmakers: Dexterity, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville City Galleries
2012 PressNorth: Out of the Box, Pinnacles Art Gallery, Riverway Arts Centre, Townsville City Galleries
2012 The Expanded Field of Printmaking, Umbrella Studio of Contemporary Arts, Townsville
2011 PressNorth: Place & Being, Artspaced Inc & Brush & Press Studio, Townsville
2011 Neoteric Printmakers, Umbrella Studio, Townsville

 

Additional Information

 

AWARDS, GRANTS & COMMISSIONS

2023 ARIA Property Group 

2017 Peebles Print Prize, Finalists Exhibition- Highly Commended

2015 Nth Qld, Art Awards, Most Outstanding Visual Artist Award

2014 59th Townsville Art Awards, Printmaking Award, Judge Maude Page 

2013 58th Townsville Art Awards Printmaking Award, Judge Mandy Martin 2013-14 RAF PressNorth Printmakers Professional Development Project 

2011 Neoteric Printmakers, Umbrella Studio- RADF Funding 

1995 2nd Student International Art Biennial, Macedonia 

1994 Canson National Student Print Award

 

Onespace Represented Artists - Riverine 24 August – 28 September 2024

Onespace Represented Artists

MAIN GALLERY | riverine

OPEN DAY: 24 August | 10am – 2pm

OPEN EVENT: 24 August | 5pm – 7pm

EXHIBITIONS
Main gallery: riverine | 24 August – 28 September

Onespace now enters its third gallery iteration, all in post code 4101 – from Highgate Hill to West End and now South Brisbane. Today, Onespace is uniquely located adjacent to Maiwar beneath the Spice Apartments near the Go Between Bridge.

The opening of riverine is a gallery-warming opportunity to celebrate Onespace’s beautiful new site at Kurilpa (the Turrbal word for the lands around South Brisbane meaning ‘the place of water rats’) and a chance for audiences to reacquaint themselves with some of the gallery’s represented artists.

Fittingly, water is central to the work of many of these artists—whether through form, process, culture, or concept—and these overlapping undercurrents invite audiences to shift their focus to the aqueous and to consider the metaphorical potential of thinking with water.

Jo Lankester, Anthraquinone Lichen – What bird is that?, 2024, Multi-colour plate intaglio with hand stitching and collage. 99.5 x 225 cm unframed

Statement 

My printmaking practice uses multi-colour plate intaglio printing to achieve intricate details and layers of colour in my prints. While my work celebrates the natural world and its critical role in our lives, it also highlights the impact of climate change on our planet's ecosystem. By drawing attention to tiny organisms and their beauty, I aim to encourage viewers to consider the effects of climate change on the environment subliminally.

Australian Print Workshop - IMPRESSIONS: Land Sea and Sky 24 August - 24 October 2024

 Australian Print Workshop 

IMPRESSIONS: Land Sea and Sky 

Lee Daroch | Chris de Rosa | Kate Gorringe-Smith | Jo Lankester | Melissa Smith

24 August - 12 October 2024

IMPRESSIONS - LAND, SEA and SKY premiere a new suite of original prints by five leading contemporary women artist/printmakers from around Australia:

   Lee Darroch (Raymond Island, VIC)

   Chris de Rosa (Port Elliot, SA)

   Kate Gorringe-Smith (Melbourne, VIC)

   Jo Lankester (Townsville, QLD)

   Melissa Smith (Launceston, TAS)

Connected through their interest in the environment and their engagement with the natural world, each of the artists worked in collaboration with APW printers to produce new work in the print medium. Employing a range of printmaking techniques and mediums, this suite of original prints includes multi-plate intaglios, lithographs and relief prints.

Exhibition continues until 12 October 2024.

Australian Print Workshop Gallery

210 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065

T: (03) 9419 5466  E: contact@australianprintworkshop.com

Gallery hours: 10am-5pm. Tuesday-Saturday.

Commission: Aria Property Group 2023, Facilitated by Onespace Gallery, Brisbane

 Aria Property Group Commission 2023: Jo Lankester. Facilitated by Onespace Gallery, Brisbane

I've been privileged to work with Onespace Gallery since 2019, when I asked to participate in an exhibition titled Pivot, showing artists' work who predominately work in 2D to create an artist book to accompany a framed work on paper. Our relationship has extended to a formal representation arrangement with the showing of two solo shows, 2020 Accression: Mapping the Landscape and 2022 Illiminous Microhabitats. 

The Aria Property Group Precinct Coordinator attended my 2022 exhibition at Onespace Gallery and commissioned two 3 panel unique state prints for the Upper House build.

Photosynthesis – Anthraquinone V, 2023, Multi-colour plate intaglio with hand stitching, 99.5 x 223.5 cm

Photosynthesis – Anthraquinone Vl, 2023, Multi-colour plate intaglio with hand stitching, 98.5 x 223 cm

Upper House Art Collection

Megan Cope

Sarah Daly

Emily Devers

Norton Fredericks

Ian Friend

Jo Lankester

Dane Lovett

Dylan Mark Bolger

Julian Meagher

Lara Merrett

TC Overson

Ai Shah

Lisa Sorbie Martin

Tyza Hart

Judy Watson

  

Australian Print Workshop: 1 Week Residency 2024

 Australian Print Workshop: jo Lankester, 1 Week Residency 2024

I feel so privileged to recently be invited by the Director of the Australian Print Workshop to work with a Senior Printer and two apprentices to produce two editions of three colour lithographs printed on the FAG Offset Press over three and half days to arrive at two BAT states by the end of the residency. It was a wild three days of drawing, laying touche washes and making quick decisions. 

I prepared as much as possible for an artist who works spontaneously to mark-making once the first colour is laid on the paper. I had clear ideas about the colours and tones I wanted to achieve. My limited knowledge of colour and lithography resulted in reverting to my reactive method of colour choice and mark-making.

I reacted to bold colours the same way as my first residency, confusing the experienced printer with what direction I was heading in. I realised I was no longer certain of my colour choices and chose a safe colour palate with which I was familiar. We only printed one version of the print, with the second colour being a bold red, and in hindsight, it was a banger. I'll take note of this for the next opportunity that may come my way to work with professional printers to produce my work. 

Working in collaboration with a printer benefits my growth as an artist. On this occasion, I learned what a technically well-printed image looks like and my desire to push it beyond the excellent state of the printer's work to fit my aesthetic of ink sitting heavy on the image rather than beautifully integrated with multitudes of tones and subtlety. It shows my level of skills is much lower than that of the professional printers at APW. *wow, what an experience. I'm really proud of the two editions we produced in collaboration. 

The images I'm showing are the touche washes and line drawings of six plates. I'm not sharing the BAT or trial proofs as the image has not yet been published by the APW.

I worked on the two sets of prints simultaneously. They can be read as single prints or a diptych.