Port Phillip Bay 2

Depicting the vast water of Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay on a sunny afternoon when the cloud shadows cast contrasting patterns against the dazzling sunshine reflecting off the water.
I chose to paint on a big scale to immerse the viewer in the expansive seascape. I lived in Melbourne close to the beach and was constantly inspired by the ever changing tones, colours and moods of the bay.
The medium is acrylic and oil-stick on board. The marks have a rhythmic texture up close and blend into smoothly transitioning tones when viewed from afar. The painting suits large spaces and walls, and is interesting for its texture at close quarters. The outer frame is wide with a matt, slightly distressed silver, and a narrow black inner frame.
This is the largest work painted from my series on Port Phillip Bay. The painting was shortlisted for the 2008 John Leslie Art Prize at the Gippsland Art Gallery.

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Kasia Fabijańska works predominantly in printmaking, drawing and mixed media focusing on the various things that relate humanity to nature whether they be personal, political or spiritual. Her landscapes, or compositions that include plants or animals may be realistic at first glance. Often on closer inspection they begin to reveal details that hint at the symbolic, metaphorical or metaphysical.

Kasia was born in Poland and spent her childhood growing up partly in Warsaw, partly in small rural villages, and later in Germany before arriving in Australia in 1986 with her family.

After completing a B.A. in Fashion Design (RMIT, Melbourne), it soon became apparent that the visual arts were the right path. After some years practising painting, her focus shifted to drawing and print. She returned to university to complete a Master in Visual Art in Printmedia at Monash University in 2012.

Kasia's practice now includes intaglio printmaking, drawing and mixed media. Copper plate etching, which is an intaglio technique, is the main method used in her prints. A copper plate is prepared with an acid resistant ground before a design is drawn, revealing the copper. The plate is etched with ferric chloride to create a recess in the plate where the metal was exposed. The plate is then cleaned, ink applied and passed through a printmaking press to print the image onto paper. Kasia has also incorporated photogravure and other printmaking techniques into her process. Some prints have several stages and use different processes to arrive at the final image.