Songs of the Australian Landscape: The Art and Spirituality of Rosalie Gascoigne

Abstract

This article focuses upon the central motifs and symbols of the Australian abstract artist Rosalie Gascoigne (1917-1999) in an attempt to uncover the spirituality in her work, and to connect this with Australian spirituality and with spirituality in the wider Christian tradition. The author proposes such a connection to be the fruit of bringing to bear the religious imagination upon Gascoigne's work, that is, a capacity to attend to the contemplative, creative and sacramental layers in it. Such a capacity invites a response to the artist's work that is ultimately religious. For Australia to be known as land of the spirit (Terra spiritus), theologians cannot neglect the work of artists such as Rosalie Gascoigne.