The Banksias Project

This exhibition celebrates the renowned botanical artworks of Celia Rosser OAM, an artist who has combined her love of the outdoors with a lifetime of painting Australia’s iconic banksias.

In 1970, Rosser was designated Science Faculty Artist at Monash University, where she drew upon techniques of microscopic examination to produce highly detailed drawings of native plant species. Her skills were recognised by many at Monash, including the University’s inaugural Vice-Chancellor, Sir Louis Matheson, whose appointment of Rosser as University Botanical Artist in 1974 allowed her to commence her magnum opus, The Banksias Project.

Known for her love of the genus Banksia, Rosser embarked on a project to paint all its known species. Fifty-eight blossomed to seventy-six over the twenty-five-year lifespan of the project as species continued to be identified. This multi-decade timeline is a testament to Rosser’s dedication to detail and accuracy. Each work in the series is the product of an extensive process, comprising field trips, sketches, colour matching and revisions. Working hand-in-hand with botanists and experts in the field, Rosser and her colleagues laboured diligently to ensure each element of her drawings faithfully represented the species.

The Banksias Project culminated in three printed volumes titled The Banksias, published in 1981, 1988 and 2000. The works in this exhibition showcase a selection of the final works reproduced in this series. Among these are paintings of banksias that were yet to be recognised at the project’s outset, including Banksia oligantha—a rare species identified in 1987 near Wagin, Western Australia. Coincidently, with the completion of the project in 2000, another species of banksia was identified near Mount Magnet in Western Australia. Two years later, this inland species was named Banksia rosserae in honour of Rosser and her contribution to the botanical arts.

The Celia Rosser Banksias are held in the Monash University Collection. Monash University Museum of Art | MUMA is pleased to have the opportunity to present this exhibition with support from the Faculty of Science.

^{Image: The Banksias Project, installation view, Science Gallery, Monash University, Clayton Campus. Photo: MUMA}