PATTERNS OF COLLECTING at The Johnston Collection: Final Walk-and-Talk

Pictured above and below are two works from a series of watercolour miniatures made especially for PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at The Johnston Collection.

To learn about these and other works in the show, join me and fellow Bower artist Louise Saxton at The Johnston Collection Museum for an informal walk-and-talk, tomorrow, 13 September from 10 - 11.30 am. Bookings, which are essential, can be made through The Johnston Collection HERE.

This will be the last special Bower Event before the show ends on 18 September.

Photos by Tim Gresham.

ENCOUNTER at IMPACT 10

Two of my works are part of Encounter, the Goldfields Printmakers portfolio presented in the Open Folio section of IMPACT 10, the international printmaking conference in Santanda, Spain.

The conference began on September 1 and concludes today, 9 September. (See also previous post).

Deborah Klein, Fallen Woman 1, Phemograph, 28.5 x 21.5 cm, Edition: 20
Printer: Luke Ingram 

Deborah Klein, Fallen Woman 2, 2017, Phemograph, 28.5 x 21.5 cm, Edition: 20
Printer: Luke Ingram

IMPACT 10

Detritus, 2018, phemograph, edition: 10. Printer: Luke Ingram

My phemograph Detritus, 2018 (pictured above) is part of Thinking of Place ll, an exhibition currently on view at the international printmaking conference, IMPACT 10 in Santanda, Spain.

Pictured below: Thinking of place II, directly following its installation in the Bibliotecca Centrale, Cantabria Hangar Hall, Santander. (Photo credit: Antonietta Covino-Beehre).

The exhibition comprises works from East London Printmakers, UK, Kamloops, Canada, Limerick Printmakers, Ireland, New Zealand North and South Island Printmakers, NZ, Edinburgh Printmakers, Scotland and three Australian groups: Melbourne Printmakers, Inkmasters, Cairns, and Goldfields Printmakers, Victoria.

IMPACT 10 runs from 1 - 9 September.

Artist Talk at Duldig Studio

Above and below are selected highlights from yesterday’s artist talk at Duldig Studio museum and sculpture garden, beginning with a snapshot of myself with two of its former Directors. On my left is Jenny Port and to my right is Eva de Jong-Duldig, daughter of Karl and Slawa Duldig and Founder and Patron of the museum.

After her mother died in 1975, Eva assisted her father in his studio. In the years following his own death in 1986, she took the first steps towards establishing Duldig Studio as a not-for-profit public museum and art gallery, keeping its contacts intact and undertaking the restoration of the house. She was the museum’s Founding Director when it opened to the public in 2002 until her retirement from the position in 2014. To learn more about Eva, click HERE and scroll down.

To say it was a delight and an honour to meet her doesn’t begin to cover it. 

In 2017, Eva completed her family memoir, Driftwood. I’ll treasure the signed copy she presented me with after my talk, and can’t wait to start reading it.

My talk was introduced by Melinda Mockridge, Education and Public Programs and Co-Curator of the museum's current exhibition, SLAWA: Modernist Art and Design.

Directly after my presentation Shane and I were invited to the farewell event of another Director of the museum. After an extremely productive year at the helm, Jenny Port is retiring - at least from that position - although her association with Duldig Studio will continue. 

Jenny was given a wonderful sendoff by Antony de Jong and Ewa de Jong-Duldig.

Warmest thanks to the Duldig Museum for inviting me to be the first speaker in their second series of Creative Women in Focus talks and to everyone who came along. You were a fantastic audience, who made this usually nervous public speaker feel completely at her ease.

A visit to Duldig Studio

On Tuesday Shane Jones and I visited Duldig Studio museum and sculpture garden, formerly the home of artist/inventor Slawa Horowitz-Duldig and her artist husband Karl Duldig, whose sculptures feature in the last five views in this post. That’s me directly below, left, with Jenny Port, Director, Duldig Studio museum and Melinda Mockridge, Education and Public Programs and Co-curator of the museum’s current show, SLAWA: modernist art and design.

This is first exhibition to focus entirely on Austrian-Australian modernist Slawa Horowitz-Duldig (1902-1975), whose story is told through her remarkable drawings, sculptures, fashion and furniture design.

Ironically, there are many who won’t have heard of her, yet she’s touched the lives of most of us. Slawa is the inventor of the folding umbrella. 

The finest house museums (and this is among them) are like self-portraits, offering rare insights into the lives, times and creative journeys of their former inhabitants, a journey that in this instance began in Poland and pre-WWll Vienna. 

This Saturday, 25 August, from 2 - 4 pm I’m returning to Duldig Studio to speak about my own creative journey in the museum’s second series of Creative Women in Focus talks. I hope you can join me. 

Even if you can’t make it on Saturday, a visit to Duldig Studio Museum and Sculpture Garden is highly recommended, particularly during the run of SLAWA: modernist art and design. It’s a timely testament to the achievements of an extraordinary woman. 

For further information, go here:

Instagram: @duldigstudio

Facebook: @TheDuldigStudio
Facebook event URL:  https://www.facebook.com/events/459263017913532/

Website: duldig.org.au

DULDIG STUDIO

Inspiring Creative Journeys

92 Burke Road, Malvern East 

Opening hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays & every 2nd Saturday of the month 1-3pm (guided tour at 2pm).  Closed public hoildays.  

CREATIVE WOMEN IN FOCUS: Artist Talk at Duldig Studio Museum

I'm a huge admirer of house museums - in fact, I'm currently exhibiting in one. For a considerable time, I've wanted to visit the Duldig Studio Museum in East Malvern. My wish is about to be granted. The museum has invited me to be the first speaker in its new series of Creative Women in Focus talks. Scroll down for full details.

CREATIVE WOMEN IN FOCUS

Deborah Klein: printmaker, painter and book artist

When Saturday 25 August 2018. 2.00 – 4.00pm

Where Duldig Studio 

Bookings https://bit.ly/2M8cxBG

Creative Women in Focus is Duldig Studio's new series of talks with Creative Women, Inspired by our current exhibition SLAWA modernist art + design, and our own creative woman – Slawa Horowitz-Duldig.

From printmakers to embroiderers, weavers to dressmakers this is an opportunity to hear some very creative women talk about their lives in art and design, their practices and the challenges and pleasures of the creative life.

Beginning in August, artist Deborah Klein will join us to discuss her career as a printmaker, painter and book artist.

Deborah Klein has exhibited widely, most recently at Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne; RMIT Gallery; the 9th International Printmaking Bienniale, Portugal; and as part of the Johnston Collection exhibition, Patterns of Collecting/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, Melbourne. Her work is held in collections around Australia and overseas.

As Deborah describes, ‘My visual language has evolved over the years and is multi-layered. Many works pay homage to women and their creative histories. The work is unified by its concern for women: the untold numbers who have been completely written out of history, the courage of those women and girls who must still fight seemingly unsurmountable odds to have their voices heard.’

SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: @duldigstudio

Facebook: @TheDuldigStudio
Facebook event URL:  https://www.facebook.com/events/459263017913532/

Website: duldig.org.au

ABOUT DULDIG STUDIO

Duldig Studio is the former home, sculpture garden and studio of artist and inventor, Slawa Horowitz-Duldig and her husband artist and sculptor Karl Duldig.

WALK-AND-TALK WITH THE BOWER ARTISTS

Installation view: The Daughter of Time by Deborah Klein and Urn by Carole Wilson in the upstairs dressing room at
Fairhall Exhibition House, The Johnston Collection, East Melbourne. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

Directly following are details of the remaining walk-and-talk events with the Bower artists/collectors before our show PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/FROM THE BOWER AT THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION concludes its long run on 18 September. Some events are booked out, so do check the link below. 

Thursday 9 August 2018 | 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm with Carole Wilson & Loris Button
Saturday 11 August 2018 | 10.00 am – 11.30 am with Carole Wilson & Deborah Klein
Thursday 13 September 2018 | 10.00 am – 11.30 am with Deborah Klein & Louise Saxton

For further information about the above, or to book a house tour during the run of the show, go HERE: 

MY MONSTER floor talk

Far left: artwork by Patricia Piccinini, foreground: my unbound artist book Homo-insecta, an Unnatural History Portfolio

Today is the first day of the Melbourne International Film Festival; between now and 19 August, I'll be seeing over 60 films. Just before I throw myself down the rabbit hole and into the Wonderland of MIFF 2018, here are some snapshots of last night’s floor talk, METAMORPHOSIS AND TRANSFORMATION, presented with Jazmina Cininas as part of MY MONSTER: The Human Animal Hybrid at RMIT Gallery. (Scroll down to see Jazmina and I with a selection of her astonishing Girlie Werewolf reduction linocuts). 

Many thanks to exhibition curator Evelyn Tsitas, to RMIT Gallery for having us and to all who came along. 

Photo credits: Shane Jones.

In full voice, alongside my Homo-insecta watercolours

It was delightful, as always, to reunite with my old friend and former colleague
Jazmina Cininas and her Girlie Werewoves

METAMORPHOSIS AND TRANSFORMATION: a floor talk

Installation view, Deborah Klein, Homo-insecta watercolours, My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid,
 RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. Photographer: Mark Ashkanasy © RMIT Gallery.

On Thursday 2 August from 5.30 - 6.30 pm, Jazmina Cininas and I will meet at RMIT Gallery to talk metamorphosis, mythology, fables, fairy tales, folklore and their impact on our artworks in the current exhibition, My Monster: The human animal hybrid.
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It's a ticketed event and I understand we already have a full house. For those who've missed out, you still have time to see the show, which runs until 18 August.  
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There is an informative article about the exhibition in the July issue of Art Almanac: https://www.art-almanac.com.au/monster-human-animal-hybrid/
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9th INTERNATIONAL PRINTMAKING EXHIBITION OF DOURO 2018

Memory 12, 2016, phemograph, edition 20

Memory 14, 2016, phemograph, edition 20

In the current flurry of activity, I completely forgot that Memory 12 and Memory 14, currently on exhibit at Gallery 125 in Perth, WA, are also part of the upcoming 9th INTERNATIONAL PRINTMAKING EXHIBITION OF DOURO 2018 in Portugal. My momentary memory loss stems from sending them over so long ago, back in April 2017, to be more precise. They were printed at Arten, as are all the works in this ongoing series.

The printmaking biennial comprises workshops, conferences, 14 exhibitions, and features a colossal 1,400 works from 700 artists from 70 countries. It runs from 10 August - 31 October.

Work in progress for IMPRESSIONS 2018

Pictured below are progress views of my current linocut, overseen by Alice, who turns as if to ask: “Really? Is this the best you can do?” 

Somehow I found the strength carry on and will deliver the block to Master Printer Simon White at the Australian Print Workshop this week, in ample time for IMPRESSIONS 2018, the APW’s biennial fundraiser.

IMPRESSIONS 2018 is scheduled for later this year. Details will be posted nearer the time.

Cross-continental events

Memory 1, phemograph, 2017, edition: 20, part of
A DARING LOVE AFFAIR WITH HER OWN SHADOW at Gallery 125, York, WA

Several of my works are part of a group show at Gallery 152 in York, Western Australia that opened yesterday, July 21. Curated by Leonie Oakes, it has a deliciously intriguing title: A DARING LOVE AFFAIR WITH HER OWN SHADOW.

Exhibiting artists are: Heather Shimmen, Jill Ansell, Rachel McKenzie, Lana de Jaga, Deborah Klein and Natasha Rowell.

The exhibition runs until Sunday, 26 August. https://www.instagram.com/p/BlecCl9j9l_/

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, the four Bower artists - Louise Saxton, myself, Carole Wilson and Loris Button - took part in Study Day 2018 at The Johnston Collection. The topic under discussion was PRIVATE COLLECTIONS/PUBLIC SPACES - THE VALUE OF ART & EPHEMERA. (See also yesterday’s post). We’re pictured below in front of our combined collections installation. 

L - R: Louise Saxton, myself, Carole Wilson and Loris Button. Photo credit: Warren Dowley

The Bower artists. Photo credit: Warren Dowley

Directly below, Carole Wilson introduces our visual presentation. Impeccably compiled by Loris Button, it included highlights of the show's previous iterations at Warrnambool Art Gallery and The Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Bower artist and curator Carole Wilson 

Bower artist Loris Button speaks of items from her private collection

The forum was one of numerous events, including an ongoing series of Walks-and-Talks, connected with our current exhibition/intervention PATTERNS OFCOLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, running until 18 September.

STUDY DAY 2018 at THE JOHNSTON COLLECTION

Tomorrow, Saturday 21 July, from 9 am - 4 pm, the Bower Artists - Loris Button, Louise Saxton, Carole Wilson and myself - will be among several presenters taking part in Study Day 2018 at the Johnston Collection. 

Led by Louis Le Vaillant, Director/Curator, The Johnston Collection and Amanda Bede, President, Ephemera Society of Australia, PRIVATE COLLECTIONS/PUBLIC SPACES - THE VALUE OF ART & EPHEMERA takes its cue from our current exhibition, PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection.

The Bower Artists will discuss our own collections and how they have directed and influenced our artworks. For example, my collection of mourning and sentimental jewellery, characterised by its incorporation of intricately woven human hair (pictured top, in situ at the museum), was a direct influence on the miniature watercolours made specifically for PATTERNS OF COLLECTING, including the Non-Portrait below. (Photo credit: Tim Gresham). 

For further information, visit the Johnston Collection website HERE.

Last Day of Melbourne Athenaeum Library Residency

At the dawning of my last day as artist-in-residence at Melbourne Athenaeum Library, here is my artist book Progeny in its final stages of completion. (Fortunately the hand-stitching went without a hitch).

Following directly below are ‘shelfies’ of the completed work (aside from binding) and finally, portraits of the women who inspired the work: Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein (1818) and Elsa Lanchester, whose astonishing, all too brief performance in James Whales’s film The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) was the point of departure for my artist book. 

In Shelley’s novel Frankenstein builds a bride for his ‘monster’ but just before giving her life, he destroys her. (Well before this stage, we’re seriously questioning who the real monster is).