printmaker, Tasmania. Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery has a group of 1991 prints (blue on pale blue) of semi-abstract Genesis subjects, presumably from a series, e.g. 'Adam and Eve I’ (tree with water/eye at base). Other works held in private collections include a lithographic portrait of a musician friend, Warren and a portrait of a woman with fish. Kjar works in series: in 1998 she did a series exploring handbags and netting, then a body of work entitled La Mirada (The Gaze) on growth, illumination and the four seasons. Influenced by Arcimboldo, '“Spring” is a portrait overlain with leaves; “Summer” has leaves flourishing so the portrait is obliterated; in “Autumn” the image is almost decomposing and “Winter” is a portrait overlain with a shadow effect. The model for these works was Kate Stackhouse’ (Klaosen, 4). The series Floras appears to have been included in this. In 2001 she had an ongoing project drawing TasDance (Tasmania’s largest professional dance company), e.g. LIFT 2001, drypoint 30 × 20 cm. Showed work in Poets and Painters , an exhibition at Bett Gallery, Hobart, part of Robyn Archer’s ’10 Days on the Island’ festival at the beginning of 2001.
Kjar regularly visits Spain, and in 2000 began a new series based on currency. She was interested in exploring links between Spain and Australia, notably the importation of 30,000 Spanish coins under Macquarie in 1812 (holey dollar and dump), and her Coin consisted of round works emulating coins, with a portrait on one side and symbols on the other.
Kjar teaches at the School of Art in Hobart and in 2001 was enrolled to do a master’s degree at RMIT. Represented by the Bett Gallery, Hobart, Australian Galleries, Sydney and Grahame Galleries + Editions, Brisbane. She had an exhibition at Helen Maxwell Gallery in Canberra in October 2001.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2007
