Miss Eliza Wentworth's glassware
2008
Robyn Stacey’s ‘Miss Eliza Wentworth's
glassware’ adopts the conventions of the still life genre, with a dramatically lit arrangement of domestic objects presented on a table top. The picture consists of glassware and cutlery precariously arranged in a wooden dish. Some shards of broken glassware and an upturned glass are resting on the table to one side of the bowl, while a linen cloth is artfully positioned to balance the composition. The objects have all been sourced from Elizabeth Bay House, which was built by Alexander Macleay when he arrived as Colonial Secretary to New South Wales in 1826.
‘Miss Eliza Wentworth's glassware’ is a result of Stacey’s ongoing relationship with the Historic Houses Trust of NSW, in particular Elizabeth Bay House. For over twenty-five years, Stacey’s practice has consistently explored the processes of collecting and consuming cultural artifacts.
(2014)
Chromogenic prints are printed on paper that has at least three emulsion layers containing invisible dyes and silver salts. Each emulsion layer is sensitive to a different primary colour of light (red, green or blue). The development process converts the hidden dyes to visible colour depending on the amount of light it was exposed to. This type of paper is commonly used to print from colour negatives or digital files to produce a full-colour image. It can also be used to print black-and-white images, giving softer grain and less contrast than gelatin silver prints. Commonly known as c-type prints, chromogenic processing was developed in the 1940s and widely used for colour printing, including for domestic snapshots. While recent years have seen this process accompanied by ink-jet and digital printing technologies, chromogenic printing still remains in use to this day.
