Arcadia: landscape and bodies, 1972-1977 by Ewa Pachucka ::

Details

Other Title

Arcadia: Landscape and figures

Date

1972-1977

Media categories

Sculpture , Installation

Materials used

crocheted polypropylene, sisal, jute and manila fibres, aluminium, hessian sheeting

Dimensions

5 female life-size figures; one life-size sow; one life-size dog; 15 landscape pieces; overall dimensions 330.0 x 440.0 x 440.0 cm :

a - sow, 62 x 105 x 66 cm

b - abstract landscape form, 52 x 130 x 103 cm

c - dog, 54 x 88 x 30 cm

d - abstract landscape form, 76 x 130 x 136 cm

e - abstract landscape form, 92 x 135 x 85 cm

f - abstract landscape form, 96 x 108 x 40 cm

g - abstract landscape form, 52 x 142 x 150 cm

h - female figure resting on left side, 37 x 153 x 67 cm

i - female figure lying on back, 25 x 155 x 69 cm

j - abstract landscape form, 35 x 80 x 85 cm

k - abstract landscape form, 70 x 187 x 65 cm

l - floor covering, 50 x 445 x 300 cm

m - abstract landscape form, 70 x 130 x 60 cm

n - floor covering, 285 x 55 cm

o - abstract landscape form, 44 x 70 x 43 cm

p - abstract landscape form, 50 x 70 x 67 cm

q - abstract landscape form, 113 x 136 x 35 cm

r - crocheted backcloth

s - abstract landscape form, 31 x 62 x 36 cm

t - female figure resting on elbows, 57 x 135 x 64 cm

u - hessian backcloth, 380 x 180 cm

v - abstract landscape form, 21 x 55 x 47 cm

w - hessian backcloth, 330 x 180 cm

x - abstract landscape form, 53 x 188 x 109 cm

y - hessian backcloth, 360 x 180 cm

z - seated female figure, elbow resting on knee, 71 x 83 x 60 cm

aa - kneeling female figure, elbow resting on knee, 71 x 44 x 70 cm

bb - hessian backcloth, 433 x 360 cm

cc - floor covering, 310 x 40 cm

dd - hessian backcloth, 380 x 180 cm

ee - hessian backcloth, 340 x 180 cm

Credit

Gift of Rudy Komon Art Gallery 1978

Location

Not on display

Accession number

36.1978.a-ee

Copyright

Reproduction requests

Artist information

Ewa Pachucka

Artist profile

Works in the collection

1

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About

'Arcadia: landscape and bodies' was created over a five-year period and was first exhibited at Rudy Komon Gallery in Sydney in November 1977, with critic Elwyn Lynn describing it as 'a remarkable tour de force'. A sprawling environment of tiered ledges and arches, the scene is inhabited by a group of five female figures and their animal companions: a sow and a dog.

Each figurative element is crocheted entirely from lengths of sisal and polypropylene over an armature of aluminium. Facial features are clearly delineated, yet remain ambiguous and anonymous. Delicate hues of fleshy pink and the earthy tans of natural fibres create a serene ambiance. The women are relaxed in their bearing and unashamed in their nakedness; in harmony with nature. The peace and beauty Ewa Pachucka found in Australia is reinvented in this utopian landscape.

Exhibition history

Shown in 4 exhibitions

Ewa Pachucka: Landscape ad bodies, 77, Arcadia, Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Woollahra, 12 Nov 1977–07 Dec 1977
Survey 5: Ewa Pachucka, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 09 Sep 1978–15 Oct 1978
Review: works by women from the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 08 Mar 1995–04 Jun 1995
Ewa Pachucka 'Arcadia: Landscape and bodies', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 03 Mar 2018–29 Apr 2018

Bibliography

Referenced in 7 publications

Deborah Edwards, Daphne Wallace, Margo Neale, Victoria Lynn and Sandra Byron, Review: works by women from the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 1995, 24.
Robert Lindsay, Survey 5: Ewa Pachucka, Melbourne, 1978, (illus., detail). cat.no. 6; titled 'Landscape and bodies, 1977, Arcadia' and dated 1977
Elwyn Lynn, Quadrant, 'Crocheted women', pg. 60-63, Sydney, Jan 1978, 60, 61 (illus.), 63. NOTE: the arrangement of the work reproduced is different from the final version in the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection
Robert Raymond, 52 views of Rudy Komon, Sydney, 1999, 164.
Rudy Komon Art Gallery, Ewa Pachucka: Landscape and bodies, 77, Arcadia, Sydney, 1977, unpaginated. NOTE: the arrangement of the work reproduced is different from the final version in the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection
Ken Scarlett, Australian sculptors, 'Pachucka (Jaroszynska), Ewa', pg. 492-495, Melbourne, 1980, 494 (illus.). NOTE: the arrangement of the work reproduced is different from the final version in the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection
Natalie Wilson, Look, 'Every fibre of her being', pg. 39-41, Sydney, Mar 2018-Apr 2018, 39, 40 (illus.), 41.