In one sense there is a feeling of order and harmony in the landscapes she creates, but this is contrasted with the upheaval conveyed symbolically in other works through depicting the catastrophic moods found in nature. My first reaction to this collection of prints was that Challis work had become softer, more lyrical and romantic. It had lost some of the stiffness and uncompromising rigidity of line that characterised her earlier work notably illustrations for her artist s books based on scriptural texts. Indeed Challis has moved away from a strict adherence to the woodblock process. In these latest woodblocks instead of overprinting different blocks of colour Challis has used layers of overprinted paper which have been collaged in overlapping shapes to build up representations of landscapes.
Trees become patterns of dark silhouettes against the pale mountains.
These landscapes float across the paper as ethereal and decorative landscapes on Asian scrolls, yet Challis has used the formal devices of intersecting planes to convey a Western sense of perspective and space. The paper is frayed in some places so that there are beautiful variations of texture within the same image. Challis has also used colour subtly. The small palette range of dark grey, browns, mauves and blues contrast gently with soft ochres and reds. In the work The mountains and hills shall break forth before you into singing III, the delicate tones of blue indigo of a rock escarpment continue through the trees and the rocks so that they unite the work in a rhythmic pattern of colour.