Belinda Hall - The Nervous Twitchers

The Nervous Twitchers
Belinda Hall

jigsawed linocut
67 x 98cm
framed

Artist Statement
This large, shaped linocut was created through a process of cutting the lino into multiple sections, then jig-sawing them back together after each piece had been rolled with its own ink colour and blend. Printed with linseed-oil inks onto Usu Kuchi heavyweight paper, the work carries the tactile presence of hand-inked surfaces and the subtle shifts of colour that emerge through this method. Framed in Tasmanian timber at 67cm x 98 cm this linocut was selected as a finalist in the Bridge Prize last year, with the first edition selling. Its making reflects both precision and improvisation- an engineered structure assembled from fragments, such as the bridges and built forms that shape the Derwent River Corridor. 

At the centre of the image, a birdwatcher stands in quiet observation as if looking out for the black swan in the foreground. The swan native to Tasmania and deeply connected to the ecology of the Derwent. The curved shape of the birdwatchers arms echoe the arching forms of a bridge's infrastructure, suggesting that human presence can further destabilise or safeguard the fragile systems we build within. Created in response to the construction of the new Bridgewater Bridge, the work reflects on the responsibility to "bear the load' of stewardship - recognising that engineering and ecology must be held in balance. The black swan becomes both witness and warning, reminding us that the success of any structure depends on the stability of the environment and its habits.