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Dumbrell, Lesley

(b Melbourne, 14 Oct 1941). Australian painter. She studied at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1959–62). Her style was formed during the 1960s, when the prevailing taste was for hard-edge, colour-field abstraction. Kandinsky’s work influenced her towards an exhilarating use of colour, Bridget Riley’s work towards an exploration of optical effects. Vital to Dumbrell’s art was her ability to combine and synthesize, bringing to her work a greater personal touch without forsaking its mathematically precise arrangement and introducing elements resonant with the abstract patternings of other cultures. In Harmattan (1976; Canberra, N.G.), short vertical lines form a tightly woven grid that unifies the composition; contrasting reds and blues and blues and greens are arranged so that the whole surface seems to vibrate. Dumbrell began to expand the grids into increasingly lighter configurations in such works as Spangle (1977; Sydney, A.G. NSW), where the lines abut one another in livelier, less rigid patterns.

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