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Craft Arts International, Issue 41, October 1997.
By Gavin Fry.
Pamela Griffith is an artist whose work follows a great tradition, the
tradition of craftsmanship and technical excellence which she applies to her
decidedly contemporary work. In painting, drawing, printmaking and design she
strives for work which is both artistically satisfying and technically
masterful. In recent years she has become one of Sydney's more successful artists. Not a
household name perhaps, but a painter and printmaker with a large and loyal
following, She has worked professionally in the arts for more than three
decades, producing a vast body of work which has found its way into public and
private collections in many parts of the world. Pamela Griffith also supports
one of the best equipped print workshops any artist could hope to find, working
with a full time printmaker to produce her many editions of finely crafted
etchings.
Born into a creative family, Pamela inherited both her mother's passion and
talent for art and her father's practicality and strong work ethic. She still
lives in the comfortable, southern Sydney
suburb where she grew up and attended the local schools. Her mother Joyce was a
ceramic artist, highly proficient in an art form which relies very much on good
technique as well as creativity to be successful. Like many of her generation,
Pamela found secondary teaching the best road to a career in art, studying
first at the National Art School
and then at Sydney
Teachers College. While
some see teachers as somehow less "serious" than those who work
full-time at their art, both the training and the work is good preparation for
an artistic career. The discipline, emphasis on technique and personal
confidence building are excellent grounding for a young artist. Pamela Griffith
made a considerable success of her teaching career, serving on Departmental
curriculum committees and professional associations. She always worked hard to
advance her profession and to ensure that every child in the state received
some education in art.
Graduating from College in 1964, Pamela Griffith was eager to develop her own
work and acquired her first etching press the following year. Printmaking had
not been part of her original training and she enrolled for further study after
school hours. She worked hard and within a few years was exhibiting in group
shows around Sydney.
In the early seventies the demands of a new family and a year of overseas
travel limited her work to some degree, but by 1975 she was able to install a
second improved etching press, as well as a new lithographic press to expand
her printmaking horizons. Pamela had married Ross Griffith, a textile engineer
who was able to bring his expertise to bear on many of the design issues
involved with printing presses. As well as the pleasure involved in working
through the problems together, their collaboration has provided her with some
of the best designed and constructed printmaking machinery in this country.
More than any other art form, printmaking is a marriage of creativity and
craftsmanship and access to efficient technology is a major challenge which
Pamela Griffith has been able to overcome.
Creating and editioning her own prints has been a satisfying challenge, but
Pamela sought to take her involvement beyond her own personal output. Access to
good technology, and knowledge of the best techniques, is always a problem for
artists, especially the young who are not in a position to have their own
presses and workshops. She responded to a community need by setting up her workshop
on a commercial basis, printing editions for a number of Sydney's best known artists. The work allowed
her to provide employment for a number of young artists who were able to
develop their own skills while working on challenging projects. The work was
hard and the profits slim, but the studio placed her right in the middle of the
printmaking community and she exhibited her work in countless group and
individual exhibitions. Eventually the proliferation of publicly funded print
workshops and government support programs made the workshop unviable, but its
operation was of immense satisfaction and assistance in her career as a
printmaker. As the years passed and resources became available, Pamela always
reinvested the earnings back into her work. A larger studio, extensions to the
workshop and ever better equipment were the rewards for hard work and
perseverance. Evidence of her success and capacity to generate highly popular
and saleable work is best seen perhaps in her continued employment of a full-time
printmaker to work with her in the studio. The production of large scale
etchings is demanding both of time and physical endurance. Much has been
learned in recent years about the health risks of printmaking which stem from
exposure to harsh chemicals. Less well known are the stresses working on the
body, caused by straining at a heavy press, lifting awkward sized papers and
plates and sitting for long hours at the drawing board hand-colouring the
editions. All too aware of the frailty of the human body, Pamela has put great
effort and considerable investment into making her workshop a model of
ergonomic efficiency and workplace safety. The final touch to an ideal working
environment is the custom designed furniture in which her prints, materials and
plates are stored.
Technical excellence and a pride in the maintenance of craft traditions can
carry an artist a long way, but in themselves they are only part of the
artistís story. The creative vision is just as important and Pamela Griffith
has travelled to many parts of the country in search of inspiration. Images of
the natural world contrast to scenes of domesticity. The traditional challenge
of the still life composition, seemingly simple but capable of a million
interpretations, forms the staple subject for her paintings. In recent times
she has chosen her subjects to reflect many layers of interest. For example,
instead of an arbitrary choice of pottery, selected perhaps for the charm of
its colour or form, she has sought out pieces which have their own histories.
Unusual Wedgwood jugs, or the art pottery of Clarice Cliff, are contrasted with
intricate Indonesian textiles, tribal masks and oriental rugs. She pays homage
to the craftsmanship and creativity of artists of the past with their inclusion
in her own works.
Pamela Griffith is not alone in her preoccupation with still life. Painters
such as Margaret Olley have devoted a lifetime to its study without exhausting
its possibilities. Pamela's compositions carefully work through colour
harmonies and the juxtaposition of complimentaries, skilfully constructed
essays which steer clear of the obvious. Often she takes the still life
arrangement out of doors, providing context and special meaning for her works.
As a complete contrast to her elegant still life paintings are the industrial
landscapes she produces for some of the nationís largest construction
companies. She is fascinated by change in the landscape - the building of new
projects and the destruction of the old.
Her striving for a sense of place has come to the fore in her most recent
etchings. She places vignettes and frames within the larger compositions of her
bird and botanical subjects, playing off the detailed with the overall, the
microscopic and the majestic. Pamela has used the form of the 18th century
naturalist's illustration, weaving a composition from many disparate parts.
Giant mangrove trees contrast with the insects and birds which live in them and
tiny butterflies from an impenetrable mass of jungle. The etchings can stand
both distant and intimate viewing. The fineness of their working makes them
ideal in the confines of a narrow corridor, while their strong overall
composition also allows them to work from across a large room. They are works
which can find a home in many environments, the domestic, the commercial and
the institutional.
A recent commission perhaps best illustrates Pamela Griffith's approach to her
work and her place in the art world. For the past two years she has been
working on a suite of etchings destined for Brunei. The commission was
organised by Art Incorporate and involves the detailed illustration of the
natural environment of the Borneo jungles
including the wildlife which abounds within it. Insects and birds are
faithfully recorded with the detail of an Audubon or Gould, but are placed into
bold contemporary compositions. The images, layered and juxtaposed, are
technically accurate, yet are far more than scientific illustrations. There is
an elegance and fineness both in the detail and in overall effect, a sophistication
which will complement the luxurious guest hotel they are designed to enhance.
The challenge for the artist and her commitment to a high standard of
production is tested by the fact that the client did not purchase individual
prints, but the complete editions of many images. The commission has taken some
two years to plan and execute, a task which would tax the most efficient of
practitioners.
While Pamela has pursued her art with singlemindedness over many years, she has
never held an elitist or precious view of its place in the world. She has
extended into graphic art and industrial design, with her work appearing in the
most unexpected places. Her work will soon appear in the pockets and wallets of
nearly every adult in the state of New
South Wales. The Roads and Traffic Authority required
a strong but simple symbol for its new computer generated drivers' licences and
Pamela has provided a design. The symbol had to work clearly on a small scale
with such diverse elements as the bearerís photograph, essential text and an
overprinted security hologram. Her most widely disseminated design came with a
commission from the giant paper manufacturer Kimberly-Clark for a special range
of Kleenex boxes. While some artists might shrink from seeing their work in
supermarkets and on the bathroom shelves of half the nation, for Pamela it was
a design challenge and the chance to provide capital to further upgrade her
studio. She sees art as a fundamentally democratic process, to be shared and
understood by as many people as possible.
A further highly specialised project came with her fabric designs for the
production of traditional toiles. In this case it was her ability to draw and
interpret historic reference material in a style reminiscent of the illustrative
engravings which decorated the first machine printed fabrics. Conceived as a
celebration of the Bicentenary in 1988, the commission required a series of
finely detailed figure and landscape drawings depicting the first years of
European settlement. While the fabrics were printed from silkscreens rather
than traditional engraved rollers, the final productions were a great success
and led to a further toile project to depict the life of the recently beatified
Mary McKillop. The McKillop designs were exhibited at the Powerhouse
Museum and received high praise from
the Pope on his visit to Australia.
It was a satisfying outcome from an exercise which added much to the artistís
skill base as well as her reputation.
While best known for her landscape and still life work, Pamela has also taken
to portrait painting with enthusiasm. She has twice painted the Governor
General, Sir William Deane, perhaps the most respected and valued person in
current Australian public life. One of the paintings hangs at his old school, St Joseph's College in Sydney,
while the second graces Yarralumla, the Governor General's official residence
in Canberra.
Pamela Griffith has succeeded in her career through talent and sheer hard work.
Many artists are blessed with natural ability, but that in itself is no
guarantee of commercial or critical success. Great ideas and inspired visions
must be carried through to completion. And the work must go on year in, year
out, building a market and a following. A good dealer is an important ally and
Pamela has worked closely with Barry Stern Gallery in Sydney to keep her work in the public eye.
She has not however relied on one outlet, showing her work in group and
individual exhibitions in galleries in every state as well as overseas.
Managing the business side of her career is as important as artistic
production, a vital discipline for an artist who chooses not to rely on public
art support mechanisms. With her children launched in their own careers, she
can now concentrate even more intently on her work. Having developed, and
overcome, a life-threatening illness she is acutely aware of the preciousness
of the working time she has before her. Rather than rest easy on her
considerable body of work, the coming years will see Pamela Griffith reach new
heights with both her painting and printmaking.
Gavin Fry, Sydney Australia, 1997
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About Pamela Griffith 
