Marina Elphick

My afternoon in the beautiful farmhouse/studio of batik artist Marina Elphick left me awed, speechless and inspired.

At first glance, it would be difficult to tell that her detailed portraits and landscapes are even batiks at all. Upon closer inspection however, it is clear that the rich colors and textures that she achieves can only be possible with the wax-resist-dye medium.

In spite of the narrative and subject oriented themes of her high-quality paintings, even Marina has had trouble getting her work accepted as fine art and not craft. Over delicious plates of homemade cakes and steaming cups of hot tea, we expressed our frustration at the "inferiority" of batiks and searched in vain for ways to change the status of the art form that we love so much.

Marina specializes in portraits and her beautiful daughter Amy is her favorite subject. The resemblance is uncanny, isn't it? What an incredibly talented artist!