Robyn Stacey

Robyn Stacey – One of Australia’s most talented
photographers
Born in 1952 Brisbane, Robyn Stacey is one of Australia’s most prominent

photographers. She grew up loving nature and worked with major natural
history collections since the 1980’s. Her talents have been recognised on a
global level, as she has been granted many research grants and has been
nominated to many awards and scholarships, one of which was to study at the
School of Visual Arts in New York. She studied at many other universities such
as UOQ and UNSW.
The period of art movement during the 1990’s was

called the Neo – Expressionism period. The 1990’s
was the peak of Robyn Stacey’s career, and a lot of her
work during this peak time had been influenced by the
art movement in the time. Neo-expressionism refers to
the portraying of recognizable objects, including
humans, in a violent, abstract, and rough way through
the use of vivid colours. The aspects of this art
movement are seen throughout most of her work,
especially expressing objects in a rough and abstract
manner.
Some Ideas include turning objects upside down, to
signify the turnover of everything in life and show how
life has changed in a small span of time. This is visible in
her “Guest relations” and “Cloud Land” Exhibitions. She
uses a lot of bright colours, along with a compulsory
human in a majority of her exhibitions. She uses artistic
techniques such as shading and stippling to expose and
show the meaning in her artworks out more and to show
the true emotion behind the artwork. There is heavy
action in her works, with a lot of use of gestural abstraction, where paint or ink
is spontaneously scribbled to give an abstract effect. This is visible in her
exhibition “The great and the good”
Analysis of Image
As time progresses however, many of the artworks done by Robyn Stacey have
come under the still life category. Her work in still life is very prominent and
spectacular, as she uses amazing juxtaposition in her artworks, a great colour
scheme and the angle of the shot to show really show the famous quote “A
picture speaks 1000 words”.
Continuing the topic of still life, a prominent artwork by Stacey that has caught
the eye of many people is “Chatelaine”, which was released in 2011. The
artwork speaks out the many aspects and characteristics of still life.
Brief Analysis:
The title chatelaine, like the rest of the objects, serves as a metaphor, with its
twofold meaning as a belt chain for carrying a sewing kit and a woman who
owns a huge estate. When we hear that the goods belonged to such a wealthy
woman - Sarah Wentworth – the lovely innocuousness of
this artistically mismatched grouping takes on a new
level. As a counterweight to her tragic past as a convict,
the lady of the house gathered tangible marks of culture
and status – virtually all imported from Europe – as a
counterpoint to her unfortunate legacy.
When we talk about the visual language, we obviously

see the vertically long purple tower over the other objects
in the scene, to signify its presence and beauty. The
shape, form and space are all used to signify the
prominence of each element in the artwork. There isn’t
much spacing to signify that the chatelaine must adjust wherever, as a
chatelaine refers to “mistress of the house”. The rectangular shape and amount
of spacing further confirms this logic. There is a black background and a burst
of colour from the purple plant as well as the daffodils on side and the rose on
the table.
This makes up the tone of the overall artwork. A lowly light background with a
splash of colour making the purple plant have meaning but stuck in a dark
place. The image also strikes an antique feel, with what looks to be an old
teapot in the bottom right corner of the table, along with rustic vibes from the
plant holder that holds the purple flower, along with the table, overall giving a
very dull yet expressive texture, including the antiquity of the artwork
Overall, the entire vibe along with the mood of the artwork would be described
as sad or gloomy. It describes as said before, something beautiful stuck in a dark
place, beside other beautiful things but not as beautiful as itself. Anyone at first
glance from viewing the artwork would go to a dark or sad memory in their life,
where they were innocent, but they were looking and amidst negative events.
There isn’t a change in viewpoint, as they only thing one can ever understand
from the viewer perspective when viewing this artwork is nothing but get a vibe
that someone innocent needs saving.
In a nutshell, Robyn Stacey is one of the most prolific artists in both the Neo-
expressionism period and the still life category, as her artwork explore these
ideas to their max level, while having significant and important emotions and
meanings behind each element in the artwork.

Robyn Stacey

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Robyn Stacey – One of Australia’s most talented

Born in 1952 Brisbane, Robyn Stacey is one of Australia’s most prominent

The period of art movement during the 1990’s was

When we talk about the visual language, we obviously

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