Normana Wight facts for kids

Normana Wight (born in Melbourne in 1936) is a talented Australian artist. She is most famous for her amazing paintings and printmaking.

Normana Wight's Early Life and Training

Normana Wight began her art journey by studying painting. She went to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology from 1954 to 1957. After this, she worked for a short time designing fabrics. She also taught art at a high school.

Later, she decided to learn more about printmaking. She moved to London to study at the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1962 to 1963. When she came back to Australia in 1964, she lived in Sydney and then Mittagong, New South Wales. In 1967, she returned to Melbourne to teach art at the Preston Institute of Technology.

Normana Wight's Art Career

At the start of her career, Normana Wight created art with abstract shapes. These were often in bright, bold colors.

The Field Exhibition

In 1967, important art curators noticed Normana's work. They were Brian Finemore and John Stringer. They were putting together a very important art show called The Field. This exhibition happened at the National Gallery of Victoria in 1968.

Normana Wight was one of only three women artists to have her art in The Field. The other two were Janet Dawson and Wendy Paramor. Normana showed a large painting made of two parts. It was called 'Untitled' 1968. This artwork was so big that she later had to destroy it because it was hard to store.

For many years, people didn't talk much about her early abstract art. But in 2009, a gallery owner named David Pestorius brought it back into the spotlight. He showed her work in exhibitions in Brisbane. In 2017, Normana Wight even remade her famous 'Untitled' painting for 'The Field Revisited' exhibition in 2018. The National Gallery of Victoria then bought this new version of her artwork.

Exploring New Art Styles

In the early 1970s, Normana changed her focus. She started using photographs in her art. While she had made prints before, printmaking soon became her main way of creating art. She made postcards and books. Through these, she wanted to challenge ideas about art being only for rich people or being too expensive.

From 1981 to 1986, Normana taught printmaking. She was a lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba.

Later, Normana became very interested in art made with computers. In 2000, she worked with the Victorian Tapestry Workshop. They created their first portrait using a computer. It was a portrait of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch. This artwork is now at the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra. A painter named Christopher Pyett created the original image. Normana then adapted it using a computer, and Merrill Dumbrell wove it into a tapestry.

Since 2001, Normana Wight has lived and worked in Brisbane. Her art is shown by Grahame Galleries + Editions in Brisbane.

In 2014, Normana Wight shared her story in a digital interview. This was for the State Library of Queensland's James C Sourris AM Collection. In the interview, she talked about her art and how computers have influenced her work.

Normana Wight's Art Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions

• Normana Wight: Minimal Painting, Brisbane, 2010
• Posted, Brisbane, 2009
• Pursuing the Still Life, Brisbane, 2003
• Small Ceremonies: Normana Wight, Lismore, 2000
• Extracts from a Still Life, Brisbane, 1999

Group Exhibitions

• New Woman, Museum of Brisbane, 2019-2020
• The Field Revisited, National Gallery of Victoria, 2018
• Abstraction: celebrating Australian women artists, National Gallery of Australia, 2017
• Queensland Art 2009, Brisbane, 2009-2010
• The Field, National Gallery of Victoria, 1968

Art in Public Collections

Normana Wight's art can be found in many important public art collections. This means her work is owned by galleries and museums for everyone to see. Some of these places include:

• National Gallery of Australia
• Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art]
• Art Gallery of New South Wales
• National Gallery of Victoria
• Art Gallery of South Australia
• Museum of Brisbane
• State Library of Queensland

Awards and Special Recognition

Normana Wight has received several awards and special recognitions for her art:

• Acquisition - Diamond Valley Art Award, 1983
• Acquisition - Gold Coast City Art Prize, 1983
• Acquisition - Aberdare Art Prize Allied Queensland Coalfields, 1990
• Artist residency - Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, 1986-7
• Visiting Fellow - Queensland College of Art, Brisbane, 1993
• Artist residency - Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne, 2001