Peta West is a Linoleum relief printmaker working in Lake Conjola, three hours south of Sydney Australia. Surrounded by national park, Peta finds inspiration for her work in the flora and fauna that she is immersed in, with her prints portraying the abundance and beauty of the wildlife that she has the privilege to witness everyday.
Peta’s main focus is relief silk cut linoleum, printed using Prussian blue inks on Japanese handmade paper. She has been working with this medium for the last 6 years, and has now found her own unique style of carving that results in a sculpted finish in her prints. Within her works, Peta creates a 3D effect by carving a definite foreground, middle, and background, finding the lights, darks, and medium tones in her subjects. She works on large plates which enables her to add scale and depth to her work, with some subjects even depicted in lifelike sizing.
Prior to printmaking, Peta was a photographer for over two decades; a medium which allowed her to develop an eye for composition, depth, and balance. This initial training in darkrooms forever instilled in her a love for monochrome, as well as the tactile process of working an image out of a medium.
This year, she has invested in a large printing press that will not only help her develop her work into larger scale formats, but also enable her to explore colour reduction practice, bringing more colour and vibrance into her work. Peta also aspires to develop her skills using mezzotint methods, allowing her to achieve gradual soft tones that are the beauty of this technique.
Since taking up printmaking in 2016, Peta’s work has increasingly gained the attention of galleries and collectors alike. Her recent exhibitions include: Peta West, Milton WorkHub, NSW, 2020; Group Exhibition, White Wall Projects, Berrima, NSW, Lauriston Press Gallery, Vic, 2021 and a near sell-out show: Songs of the Earth at Van Rensburg Galleries, Milton, NSW, 2021. (Australia)
In 2021, Peta was a finalist in the Burnie Print Prize, Tasmania, and in the year prior, she was a finalist in both the Arts in the Valley Art Prize, Kangaroo Valley, NSW and the Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize, Sydney.
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