Mary Corita.

Top image viaThe Citrus Report. Image above viaFussy Records.

Kate Banazi is a Sydney based artist who creates pure magic with her visually arresting silkscreen prints. Seriously beautiful stuff. You may recall my little interview with her a little while ago. See – she’s really clever! I was lucky to meet Kate in person after I interviewed her, and I am happy to report that she is super lovely and just as vibrant as her delicious work. Oh, and she is also really funny. And I love that. – x dana

Recently, I had the huge pleasure of working with the dynamic duo Edwina and Katrina Brennan of Relax Your Bones.

Not only did they come to the studio bearing gifts, which is never taken for granted, especially if they’re baked goods, but Edwina also bought me a beautiful book of serigraphs by Mary Corita, who was someone whose work I’d not come across before. Her screenprinted work was instantly striking to me and the bold graphic aesthetic, with sweeps of vibrant colour and handwritten type, packed a punch in it’s modern simplicity.

Top left via corita.org. Top right via Delicious Industries. Bottom left via Borrowed Bought Stolen. Bottom right also via Borrowed Bought Stolen.

I was really surprised then to find out that, not only was she a prolific screenprinter, peace and equal rights activist, but that she was also a Catholic Nun, born in 1918 and often asked to tone down her work as it was seen as too ‘subversive’.

As she said herself:

“I am not brave enough to not pay my income tax and risk going to jail. But I can say rather freely what I want to say with my art.”

See more of her work here.

Top image via drawn. Bottom image via corita.org.

–Kate Banazi.