Fading Existance

30 November 2022 - 8 January 2023

Karen Barbouttis, Malayan Tapirs. Status: Endangered., 2022

Many residents of the Woollahra Municipality would be familiar with the large anchor at The Gap, Watsons Bay, a memorial to the unidentified victims of the wreck of the ship the Dunbar. With a loss of 121 passengers and crew, and only one survivor, it is one of Australia’s worst maritime disasters when it was driven into the reef at the foot of South Head on the evening of 20th of August, 1857.

The vessel was owned by Duncan Dunbar and one of a fleet of 52 vessels that travelled from England during the Industrial Revolution. Duncan Dunbar was one the most successful British entrepreneurs during this period that travelled the world for trade. Michael Rhodes, a relative of the Dunbar family, was writing a book, “Duncan Dunbar and the age of Sail”, and in his research discovered and gifted a treasure trove of maritime maps dating from the early 1800’s, used by the Dunbar captains. Some were so rare they were donated to the Royal Navy to fill the gaps in their collection, others were restored and hung in a private museum in Malaysia, and others were offered to me for the purpose of giving them an extended life as artwork. These maps are original, the paper fragile, complete with captains’ plots and markings.

I chose to honour the flora and fauna native to the regions. My drawings are images that work to the beauty of the markings of the maps. They also look to the monument of the anchor at The Gap, the shipwreck, the lost lives from the Age of Sail, and the amazing explorations and map making that the Dunbar line created. Also, an awareness of the diverse animal and plant life of these regions that still exist but are sadly declining at an ever increasing rate, not just to climate change, but to poaching, the illegal wildlife trade, and land and habitat destruction.

Trained in the Animation Studios of Hanna Barbera and Disney, I continued to work in Animation as both an Animator and Character Concept Artist for the next 25 years. I also worked as an Illustrator for books and product concept art and design. My work has always centred on, and evolved from, the pencil mark on paper.

I attended the National Art school in 2008-2010 to expand on my art skills, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, Painting Major, with Distinction across all disciplines. Invited to continue in an Honours Degree in Drawing, I chose to defer and just enjoy being a creative artist. I found that I was irresistibly ‘drawn’ to the simplicity, immediacy, and the honesty, of the pencil line on paper.

In 2011, I entered my first art competition, The Adelaide Perry Prize for Drawing, and was honoured to be announced the Winner for 2011. Over the next few years I participated in both solo and group exhibitions in various galleries, in both Australia and Greece, as well as group exhibitions as finalist in various art competitions.