One of the comments made about the 1998 Printmaker's Award exhibition was that printmakers are no longer self-conscious about either subject matter or printing techniques, because they have successfully integrated the two.  This is even more evident in the current 1999 exhibition.  In fact, many printmakers seem to be so comfortable with their technical practice that they are using it to push boundaries and to become even more experimental in their techniques and provocative in their content.

This is particularly true of the winning entry in the experimental category - a work by Stephen Terry entitled Self Portrait.  This work combines several different printmaking techniques including beeswax print and lino-print.  The image is of a handbag divided vertically down the middle.  One side shows an amorphous shape in beeswax.  Superimposed over this shape is another shape, through which several thorns protrude.  One side is raised above the other so that the effect is a three dimensional one.  Such a combination of techniques is particularly experimental but the content is also unusual.  Beneath the image is a description that says simply, handbag with foetus.  This gives the image as a whole, a mysterious and disturbing significance.  Does it indicate that the unborn child is about to enter a life full of pain and thorns?  Or does it signify that human life is contained and shaped by social and cultural constructs even before birth, and that many of these are the cause of pain.

The unique state award went to Simona Piscioneri with a work entitled Labour of Love - Generation 1.  Again, the work has been produced by a combination of techniques.  It combines traditional printmaking with the equally traditional 'female' crafts of hand stitching and collage.  Individually the techniques are traditional but the imagery is contemporary, so the overall effect is innovative and thought provoking.  The imagery consists of the face of a woman in the style of contour drawing superimposed over a uterus containing twin foetuses.  In script is the message: "no-one knew for sure that a woman with one ovary removed could conceive fraternal twins until it happened to nana".  In the bottom left corner is the figure of a woman in 'town' clothes and on the right is a flock of sheep.  The content, therefore, refers to the artist's personal history, as she is obviously concerned with the concept of birth and to the various roles assigned to women through the generations.

Other artists, including Marie McNeil, used similar combinations of techniques.  McNeil's work entitled When Reality Gets Misplaced is made up of pieces of printed fabric collaged onto a canvas background.  Also collaged onto this background is an open velvet, evening purse.  The composition is sophisticated and the comment in the title questions the roles and identities assigned to women.  This is also the purpose of some works inscribed in machine stitching which ask; "where then comes reality?".  The message is that social roles and constructs may be more illusory than real.

Also worthy of comment in this section is a small print simply entitled Trees by Kim Robinson.  This is a work which uses both etching and lino-cut techniques, its attractiveness lies in the way these techniques have produced a finely textured and delicate image of trees.  There is no underlying message except for a feeling of the fragility of the natural environment.  Equally aesthetic in its effect is a work by Marilyn Corica entitled Land Carrier Vessel 11.  This consists of a paper basket containing three 'sticks' collaged onto a background.  It is finely crafted and extremely well presented.

The editioned print award went to Karen Prakhoff Rickman for an untitled etching.  This is a large work, which uses no colour, only tonal variations of black and white.  It makes no overt comment but through its tonalities it creates a dark and brooding atmosphere, which brings to mind unconscious depths of the mind or Neolithic periods of history.  Creating such a powerful effect purely by means of tonal subtleties is certainly a commendable achievement.  Nat Poli creates quite a different mood in a piece entitled Giant Seagulls in Vancouver.  This consists of a set of small, hand-coloured collographs each showing a separate, quirky, bright coloured image of boots, squirrels, boats, a raccoon or giant seagulls.  Each image is surrounded by script spelling out post-card messages such as "I was pretty excited to see a real life raccoon."  It is a tribute to those who presented the exhibition that these two strongly contrasting works were placed together so that the heaviness of the one both relieved and complemented the brightness of the other.

For the first time the printmakers presented a separate category and award for digital works.  This award was won by Johanna Standish with a work in two small panels entitled House with Aerial 11.  The technique used for this is described as manipulated silk-screen on canvas.  The effect was one of subtle variations of shape and colour with a strong sense of movement.  The skill was in combining digital techniques with traditional materials and printing methods so that they all blended together with no single technique dominating the others.

Some of the works in this category consisted of enhancements and manipulations of pre-existing images, but most demonstrated a high level of imagination and an ability to use the computer as a tool rather than as an end in itself.  Gosia Wlodarczak-Sarnicka, David Jay Reed and Cassandra Edwards all produced images that were playful, thoughtful, creative and colourful.

The exhibition presents a full range of printmaking techniques and combinations of techniques, but it is not just a testament to the technical expertise of Western Australian printmakers.  It is also a testament to their  intelligence, their social commitment and their aesthetic awareness.  The overall visual impression is one of colour, variety and complementarity so that the whole far exceeds the some of its parts.