Catherine Truman: SALA 2016

Over the course of more than thirty-five years, Truman's practice has evolved as she has pursued diverse opportunities and cross-disciplinary projects. She is driven by an awareness of the ways in which we quench curiosity and acquire knowledge through our hands. Straddling the disciplines of art, craft and science, her work revolves around the human body, its movement and limitations, and our obsessive drive to understand it.

In a world that responds to large, grand forms in contemporary art, Truman is comfortable with the intimate artifact. Most of her pieces fit comfortably in the palm of the hand, emphasizing the preciousness and relational nature of her work. Her keen eye for detail and precision in the technique are evidence of her scientific mind and of her early netsuke training in Japan.

In 1985 Truman co-founded Adelaide's Gray Street Workshop, a collectively run studio for artists working in jewellery and object-making. The Gallery has long recognised her significance in these fields - in 1992 it acquired Fish out of water brooch no.|, and further acquisitions followed in 2002, 2004, 2010 and 2014.

This exhibition captures the boldness and breadth of Truman's practice and includes contemporary jewellery, sculpture, object-based installations, photographs and moving image works.

Truman is the subject of the 2016 SALA monograph, written by Melinda Rackham and published by Wakefield Press.