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
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W: jolankester.com | Onespace
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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.
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Education |
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Bachelor of Fine Arts –
Printmaking, Victorian College of the
Arts |
1994 |
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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
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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
