Inside the Visible


Lygia Clark

When I first started at RMIT many years ago, a friend recommended a book to me, which had a great impact on me creatively. Inside the Visible, an elliptical traverse of 20th century art. in, of, and from the feminine. edited by M. Catherine de Zegher, was published in 1996. I found the incredible diversity of the artists included inspiring.
Many of my favourite artists were included:
Louise Bourgeois
Hannah Hoch
Nancy Spero
Eva Hesse

and it reminded me of others:
Emily Carr
Agnes Martin
Sophie Taeuber-Arp

and introduced me to a number of artists that I had not heard of, and have since greatly inspired me:
Carol Rama
Jana Sterbak
Mona Hartoum
Cecilia Vicuna
Ellen Gallagher
Lygia Clark
Yayoi Kusama
Mira Schendel
Avis Newman
Anna Maria Maiolina
Gego
Ana Mendieta
and more

All of a sudden I was presented with a range of artists who explored their own personal narratives through many different media.
When I was young, I wanted to be a painter, but I also loved working with metal. and then there was my love of words.
When I read this book I came to understand that materials were there to help me realise my subject, they were not an end in themselves. and that narrative and storytelling was perhaps the most important thing for me. and that that was ok.


inside the visible

impulse of the possible


Cecilia Vicuna 1994




He who already knows cannot go beyond a known horizon.

Georges Bataille, Inner Experience



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