2022, 9 copper plate intaglio print: etching and aquatinted tusche wash. Charbonnel and American Graphic Inks on 350gsm Hahnemühle Paper

120 cm x 34 cm

Image courtesy of the artist

Of Being – Oblivion draws upon my perspective about dementia that I’ve witnessed in my aunt diagnosed with dementia. I have represented my aunt’s mental decline using nine intaglio matrices: one large aquatinted rectangular plate and eight small etched tondos or circular plates based upon my own travel journals. This is achieved in this work by choosing selected details from my double-spread landscape drawings of everyday scenes captured in my travel journals. Drawing upon my visual journaling, acknowledges my strong personal and artistic connection with Jenny who also documented her travels in visual diaries. My use of the tondo references how in the act of recounting memories, the focus is upon specific details of the memory rather than the recall of the total experience or event. Of Being – Oblivion alludes to a lifetime of accumulated memories gradually erased by diseases like dementia.

After a successful architecture career, Stuart Meyer-Plath enrolled in the Bachelor of Fine Art at the Queensland College of Art (QCA) in 2017 to pursue his interest in printmaking and jewellery. He was a selected finalist in the 2021 Peebles Print Prize 21, both the 2021 and 2022 Lethbridge 20000 Small Works Prize and the 2022 Moreton Bay Regional Art Prize. At the 2022 QCA Graduation Show, Meyer-Plath received the 2022 Outstanding Achievement Award in Major – Print.