Margaret Worth facts for kids

Margaret G. Worth (born 1944) is an Australian artist. She has worked as a painter, screen printer, and sculptor. Before becoming an artist, she studied music, math, and science. Her art helps her combine her interest in science and her spiritual beliefs. Her artworks are displayed in national and state galleries in Australia, and in private collections in Australia and the United States.

Becoming an Artist

Margaret Worth was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1944. She taught for three years before deciding to become a full-time artist. From 1962, she studied at the South Australian School of Art. There, she was inspired by artists like Dora Chapman, Geoff Wilson, and Sydney Ball. Sydney Ball was an abstract painter who later became her husband.

In 1969, Worth moved to New York with Ball. She studied at the School of Visual Arts. Her teachers included Lucy R. Lippard, a feminist writer and curator, and Richard Serra, a sculptor. She attended the School of Visual Arts in 1969–70. After that, she spent two years studying at Columbia University.

While she was studying, Worth made screen prints for famous artists. These included Robert Rauschenberg, Sol LeWitt, and Jim Dines. After finishing her studies at Columbia, she taught 3D Design at the Parsons School of Design. She also taught drawing at Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia-Greene Community College.

She returned to Adelaide in 1984. Today, she lives in Victor Harbor, South Australia.

Her Artworks

Paintings

In the 1960s, Margaret Worth was an abstract painter. She used bold and bright colors in large shapes and curves. She painted on both flat and shaped canvases. Her first art show in Adelaide in the 1960s featured these paintings.

The National Gallery of Australia owns two paintings and several prints from Worth's Samsara series. This series shows her idea of the Sanskrit word "Samsara", which means the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The series uses bands of pure color that move in a flowing, mysterious way across shaped canvases. In 2020, three of these artworks were part of the National Gallery of Australia's "Know My Name" art event.

Sculpture

Over time, Worth became a sculptor and installation artist. In 1988, an exhibition showed her 'Forest Fragment' works. She made these by carving polystyrene, a type of plastic, with a pruning saw. She then colored them with acrylic paints. By the 1990s, she was using many different materials for her sculptures. She created art for both indoor and outdoor spaces.

Emerging Media

Margaret Worth has also worked on projects that combine different art forms. She teamed up with Bridgette Minuzzo, Heather Frahn, and Lorry Wedding. Together, they created an immersive art experience about sound, water, and energy waves. This project included moving images, sounds, special wave effects, live performances, and physical objects.

In Collections

You can find Margaret Worth's artworks in many important collections, including:

• National Gallery of Australia
• National Gallery Victoria
• Art Gallery of South Australia
• Art Gallery NSW
• Queensland Art Gallery GOMA
• Cruthers Collection WA
• Artbank, Australia
• Columbia University, New York, USA
• Flinders University SA
• Curtin University, WA
• Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Vic.
• New England Regional Art Gallery NSW
• Murray Bridge Regional Gallery SA
• University of South Australia

Exhibitions

Since 2004, Worth has been part of 20 special art projects and exhibitions. Here are a few examples:

• 2020: Worth was featured in the year-long 'Know My Name' program at the National Gallery of Australia. This included the Billboards Project across Australia and a major exhibition.
• 2018: In ‘Landfall’, the Lorne VIC Sculpture Biennale 2018, Worth won a $20,000 award. Her winning artwork was called ‘VAJRASANA meditation’.
• 2015: Worth presented 'Mining the Mind' at Flinders Medical Centre SA. This project used sound and moving images of energy with sand, salt, graphite, and carbon. These installations created spaces where real, remembered, and imagined things could mix together.
• 2013: The artist installed 'Where Are You? What time is it? How do you know?' in central Australia (Araluen) and Goolwa, regional SA. She used CCTV, glass, sand, and polystyrene. The artwork created different environments where viewers could see themselves on screen at the same time.
• 2010: She partnered with Pam Kouwenhoven for the 'Drop the Dust' exhibition. This was part of the South Australian Living Artists Festival in 2010. The exhibition then toured eastern Australia for two years.

Commissions and Permanent Installations

Margaret Worth has also created many artworks that are permanently installed in public places.

Awards

Margaret Worth has received several awards for her art.