Breakaway

Mirabel Fitzgerald studied painting and printmaking at the Byam Shaw School of Art, London in 1965, with further studies following her arrival in Australia - firstly with Tate Adams at RMIT in 1966, and then with Elizabeth Rooney at the Workshop Arts Centre in Willoughby in 1966-67. In 1973 she went to Paris and studied at with S W Hayter at his famous Atelier 17, while resident at the Moya Dyring Studio at the Cité Internationale des Arts (1973-74). She was a long-standing member of the Sydney Printmakers group, exhibiting in their annual exhibition from 1965-2001. She is an Honorary Associate Professor, after holding the position as Head of Department, Print Media Studio, Sydney College of the Arts from 1988 until her retirement from teaching in 2008.

Fitzgerald's work reflects elements of her training, such as Hayter and Rooney’s use of found materials (such as netting, organic matter etc) on soft grounds, and a corresponding collage-like accretion of elements in forming an image that has its roots in surrealist practice. Fitzgerald's subject matter comes from the things that surround her in nature and the studio.