Stepping Stones

Cam Munroe is an abstract artist with a prolific exhibiting history spanning 20 years in Australia and New Zealand. Born in Melbourne in 1972, Cam Munroe is a graduate of Sydney’s Meadowbank School of Art and Design. After collecting a number of art awards in Australia, Cam moved to New Zealand in 1994. Cam’s unique pictorial language is comprised of juxtaposed shapes, symbols and markings. Simultaneously strange yet familiar, recurring motifs in her work derive from legend, history and belief systems. The artist’s restricted tonal palette serves to accentuate the significance of these cryptic markings: why are they there, and what – if anything - do they mean? Reminiscent of prehistoric petro glyphs (rock engravings), perhaps the markings have obscure cultural or religious significance: recording and conveying information for beings – human or extraterrestrial – able to interpret what they mean. Or perhaps they are simply aesthetic objects, symbolizing nothing and intended purely for visual enjoyment. Research of history and archaeology have become an insatiable fascination and have contributed to her intriguing stable of imagery. There seems little in each work’s title to aid viewers in interpretation - even a familiar language such as English appears inadequate to translate what each work has to say. Yet this is an artist intent on communicating – even cardboard and trash bin lids become canvases for what she feels compelled to paint. Cam’s work has become highly sought after and has her work in public and private collections in New Zealand, Australia, The Netherlands, Korea, The U.K. and U.S.A.