47th Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award Exhibition runs from Sat 16 Aug 2025 — Sun 21 Sep 2025 | 10:00am — 5:00pm

 

47th Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award

I'm a Finalist - Jo Lankester

Location: Walyalup I Fremantle Arts Centre

Celebrating its 47th edition, the Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre Print Award stands as Australia's most prestigious print competition and the Centre's longest-running exhibition series of its kind. Each year, artists from varying stages of their careers submit their work, creating a rich and diverse selection that allows the Print Award to thrive as a contemporary exhibition. This showcase highlights both the time-honoured traditions and the innovative experiments happening in printmaking today. The work I entered and selected is one of my most ambitious multi-plate coloured prints. 

The artwork, titled Chatter, explores the significance of community, place, memory, and interconnectedness, symbolised through the presence of the Black Cockatoo, often seen amongst the beach almond trees of Townsville and Magnetic Island. Our conversations shape the memories that bind us, just as these trees adapt and flourish in their coastal environment, demonstrating resilience and adaptability. The vibrant life represented by the Black Cockatoo inspires dialogue about our connections to nature and one another. Chatter highlights that our shared experiences and relationships are woven into the fabric of our community and are essential in shaping our sense of place and belonging.

Jo Lankester
Chatter, 2025
Unique state multi-plate colour intaglio, planographic, collage, polyptych
Image size: 200 x 225cm
Image: Louis Lim. Courtesy of the artist and Onespace

The 2025 WFAC Print Award will feature 68 selected pieces, chosen by a distinguished panel that includes Dr. Jessyca Hutchens (Co-Director at the Berndt Museum, UWA), Hannah Mathews (Director/CEO of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art), and Trent Walter, an artist, printer, and publisher from Negative Press in Naarm Melbourne.

2025 Print Award Finalists:

Studio 29B, Eero Almeida, Kelsey Ashe, Benjamin Bannan, Julie Barratt, Ange Bateman, Rebecca Beardmore, Alexander Beetle, Sam Bloor, Trevor Bly & Patrick Doherty, Ron Bradfield Jnr, Michael Bullock, Johnathon World Peace Bush, Emma Buswell, Mitch Cairns, Jon Campbell, Ruby Cason, Jacky Cheng, Matthew Clarke, Dominique Coiffait, Jo Darbyshire, Annabel Dixon, Mauretta Drage, Troy Drill, Jacqui Driver, Lesley Duxbury, Robert Fielding, Freyja Fristad, Caroline Goodlet, Freya Hall, Angela Hayson, Deanna Hitti, Dwayne Jessell, Martin King, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Jo Lankester, Eric Lobbecke, Frances Malcomson, Tim McLaughlin, Tim Meakins, Mimili Wati Group, Louise Monte, Zali Morgan, Sally Mumford, Brett Nannup, Kate O'Shea, Jana Papantoniou, Emily Parker, April Phillips, Perdita Phillips, Maree Purnell, Alethea Richter, Brian Robinson, Joshua Searle, Mervyn Street, Ella Sutherland, Bill Taylor, Jacinta Taylor-Foster, Carine Thevenau, Peter Gooloou Thomas, Samantha Thompson, Richard Trang, Justin Trendall, Lois Waters, Kylie Watson, Noah Williams, Evangeline Wilson & Prita Tina Yeganeh

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.

Flotilla: an Installion with Video Art by Robert Crisp, Michelle Hall & Jo Lankester

Flotilla
Robert Crisp, Michelle Hall & Jo Lankester 
Strand Ephemera 2013, 30 August - 8 September

Flotilla at Dawn

Our most recent collaboration was Flotilla for Strand Ephemera 2013, this time with a digital projection extending the collaborative process to include video artist Robert Crisp.

Flotilla explores notions of loss and anonymity experienced during chaotic times. Textile forms suggestive of ghosts have been printed with boat forms. The appearance of the work shifts with nightfall as an atmospheric projection acts as a storm on which the ghost boats float.

Strand Ephemera 2013 was located on the picturesque Townsville Strand, the event was held coincidentally at an incredibly windy time. In anticipation of the wind we intently installed our work to the lower hanging branches from only one anchor point so that the wind would not totally destroy our print assemblages.

Flotilla could be view over 24hrs with each significant part of the day contributing to the dramatics of the piece, and playing a very important role in conveying our interpretation of a long journey at sea. Dawn brought a sense of calm, a time to reflect an opportunity to assess the damage from the storm the night before. Midday was the transition time of the sails filling with wind and uncertainty of what was to come. Dusk brought strong wind, tension, and vulnerability. Night brought uncertainty and fear. The cycle was repeated each day with the installation taking on the physical effects of the elements.

Flotilla at Midday

Flotilla on Dusk

Flotilla at Night

We would like to thank Gallery Services and Townsville City Council for their support in going beyond normal expectations to accommodate our digital projection

Jo Lankester, Message to the Living, Linocut, Artisans on Flinders

Window Display of Prints and Greeting Cards at Artisans on Flinders