Mandy Tootell: Territory Blue Exhibition Catalog

A CONTEMPORARY
EXPLORATION OF
TOP END BIRD LIFE
An interview with artist
Mandy Tootell
Katherine artist Mandy Tootell is a
creative force, and (obvious from the
subjects in this exhibition) a champion of
our local birdlife. She is also a highly
skilled print-maker, textile artist, and
visual communicator (also evident in each
of the wonderful works in Territory Blue).
Godinymayin Gallery Coordinator Max
Paez sat down with the artist for a
conversation about her inspiration,
method, and creative life…
Q: Tell us a little bit about the work in
Territory Blue, and the diverse bird life
represented.
A: In 2019 I was an Artist in Residence for
the Territory Wildlife Park and in 2020
went on the Kakadu Bird Week tours with
NT Bird Specialists. My attention to the
birdlife around me has grown from that.
All of the birds in Territory Blue can be
found around us here in Katherine except
for a few (such as the Banded Fruit Dove,
which is endemic to a little part of
Kakadu, and the Pygmy Geese live up
there too). We are so lucky to live in a
region that has an abundance of amazing
wildlife, and birds even visit us in our own
backyard!
Q: You combine painting, printmaking,
drawing, textile, and a lot of visual
elements to make these mixed-media
works. Tell about your creative process,
and how this exhibition was made.
A: There are 5 series in the Territory Blue
body of work; as a printmaker and mixed
media artist, I find myself doing repeated
experiments over a period of time, before
making a series of work. Some of these
processes have been combined to
produce the results seen in the exhibition.
Although I was trained in—and have a love
of—etching, I have avoided acid for a
while, and kept to dry points and
collagraphs intaglio.
Gouldian Finch, Cyanotype
and hand coloured Collagraph
print on paper.