For RBG 1933-2020

Lace collars have been a recurring part of my personal iconography for over two decades. The works featured here and several others not pictured were made at different times and in varying contexts. Art is often prescient, however. Nowadays I can’t look at any of them without thinking of “The Notorious RGB”. It feels as if they were always about her, even before I was aware of her existence. The late Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s iconic collection of collars were more than mere fashion accessories. Through them, she staked her claim on a traditionally male garment and at the same time, feminized it. 

The wider significance of her collars is detailed in Vanessa Friedman’s article, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Lace Collar Wasn’t an Accessory, It Was a Gauntlet, The New York Times, first published September 20, 2020:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/20/style/rbg-style.html

When he was commissioned to design a visual tribute to RGB for the front cover of THE NEW YORKER, October 5, 2020, illustrator Bob Starke created the following work:

For background information on the illustration, read  Bob Starke’s “Icons” by Francoise Mouly, THE NEW YORKER, September 23, 2020 here:

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cover-story/cover-story-2020-10-05

Pictured above:

Remnants, 1999, acrylic on two canvases, 75.5 x 12.5 cm (top), 12.5 x 12.5 cm

(bottom)

Icons, Rob Starke, cover illustration, THE NEW YORKER, October 5, 2020

Pictured below:

Regeneration, 2020, linocut in progress, lino block 42.5 x 26.5 cm

Anonyme, 1998, linocut printed from three blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 73 x 62 cm

Untitled, 1998, linocut printed from two blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 73 x 62 cm

Coil, 2001, acrylic on seven canvases, 60 x 55.5 cm

Still Life with Lace collar, 2001, acrylic on three canvases (detail) 131.5 x 40.5 cm

Page from an Album, 2000, linocut printed from three blocks on Japanese mending tissue, 63 x 74 cm 

Lace, 2000, acrylic on two canvases, 23.5 x 30 cm (upper) 20 x 25 cm (lower)

Web, 2000 - 2020, acrylic on 4 canvases, 35 x 25 cm 

For more about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, go here:

https://www.biography.com/law-figure/ruth-bader-ginsburg

The acclaimed documentary, RBG, 2018, is also highly recommended:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RBG_(film)

The trailer for RBG is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biIRlcQqmOc

R.I.P., RBG. Long may your legacy continue.

COVERT COVID 12

Pictured above: Covert Covid 12: Self-portrait in Chenuala heliaspis Moth Mask, (1)  the final work in a set of twelve, created in as many days during life in lockdown.

"In the event of an oxygen shortage on airplanes, mothers of young children are always reminded to put on their own oxygen mask first, better to assist the children with theirs. The same tactic is necessary on terra firma. There's no way of sustaining our children if we don't first rescue ourselves. I don't call that selfish behaviour. I call it love".
- Joyce Maynard.

The masks in this series (scroll down to see the previous eleven) were originally conceived in 2010 as a relatively small part of a substantial body of work relating to my feminist fairy tale, The Story of the Moth Masks (2008). Somewhat overlooked at the time, the masks now seem uncannily prescient. Ten years on, they've finally found their proper place, although as yet, there's no fairy tale ending in sight.

(1) Chenuala heliaspis mask, 2010, acrylic on found papier-mâché mask.

COVERT COVID 11

Covert Covid 11: Self-portrait in Scaptesyle dichotoma Moth Mask (1), the penultimate instalment of a series created in my Covid Cave in Ballarat East over twelve days of life in lockdown.

(1) Scaptesyle dichotoma mask, 2010, acrylic on found papier-mâché mask, de rigueur for social distancing and equally indispensable for the prevention of face-touching.

COVERT COVID 10

Covert Covid 10: Self-portrait in Agathia pisina Moth Mask (1).

Ballarat East, Tuesday, 28 April, 2020.

(1) Agathia pisina mask, 2010, acrylic on found papier-mâché mask.

COVERT COVID 9

Covert Covid 9: Self-portrait in Damiens elegans Moth Mask, (1) ninth in a suite of twelve.

“The human face is, after all, nothing more or less than a mask”
- Agatha Christie.

Ballarat East, Monday, 27 April, 2020.

(1) Damiens elegans mask, 2010, acrylic on found papier-mâché mask.

COVERT COVID 8

Covert Covid 8: Self-portrait in Dysallacta megalopa Moth Mask (1) #8 in a sequence of 12.

Stay home, stay safe.

Ballarat East, Sunday, 26 April, 2020.

(1) Dysallacta megalopa mask, 2010, acrylic on found papier-mâché mask.

Until the world is well again

With a tinge of regret, it dawns on me that my solo show at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery was due to open today. Looking on the bright side, however, its postponement will enable me to realise ideas for three additional paintings that wouldn't otherwise have seen the light of day.

The first of these, shown in its early stages below, is now close to resolution. 

The pattern on my protagonist's elaborately tattooed back (it was the devil of a thing to paint) is based on a detail from Autumn and Winter, an embroidery by May Morris, a prolific and influential designer and embroiderer whose works are sometimes erroneously attributed to her more famous father, William Morris. There will be more about May Morris in future posts.

Maytime, acrylic on linen, 40.5 x 30.5 cm (progress view)

I've learned a great deal from making this work, particularly in regard to the handling of paint, and have been able to apply some of that knowledge to a couple of earlier works that were sorely in need of fine-tuning. The paintings Snake Tattoo and Rambling Rose were made in the small third bedroom of my former house, which served as a makeshift studio in the lead up to last year's move. The light in there was poor and this translated into the works as a kind of dull airlessness. Their tonal imbalance, painfully obvious in my new well-lit studio, has hopefully been corrected.

In the past few weeks there have been days when I couldn't face going into the studio. The most important lesson I've learned of late is that in a world over which I have no control, being in there is my salvation. The show may not go on - at least, for now - but the work can still continue.

Travelling Light

Pictured above: my survival strategy for these troubled times: Travelling Light (1996, linocut, 30 x 30 cm. Collections: Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne, Vic., National Gallery of Australia, ACT., Art Gallery of Ballarat, Vic and others).

It's been many years since I've set eyes on this print. Recently I came upon it whilst going through the archive of my work at the Australian Print Workshop. On the far left are Dorothy Parker and Diva, our two much loved cats at the time this work was made.

Stay safe, everyone.

APW George Collie Memorial Print Award recipient

With profound gratitude to the Australian Print Workshop, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve been awarded the 2020 APW George Collie Memorial Print Award.

"The Australian Print Workshop has administered the APW George Collie Memorial Award on behalf of the Collie Print Trust since 2014. The Australian Print Workshop is delighted to have this opportunity to recognise important and lifelong contributions to fine art printmaking. The annual Award presentation is accompanied by an exhibition of the recipients’ work in the APW Gallery".

The 2020 George Collie Memorial Print Award exhibition will also honour the work of one of my printmaking muses, the late Barbara Hanrahan, a selection of whose works are HERE. I’m honoured to have my name linked with hers and distinguished past recipients Alun Leach-Jones and Kevin Lincoln (2019), Graham Fransella and Euan Heng (2018), Kitty Kantilla and John Wolseley (2017), Bea Maddock and Jennifer Marshall (2016), Grahame King and Jan Senbergs (2015) and Rick Amor and Noel Counihan (2014).

The George Collie Memorial Print Award exhibition opens ‪on Saturday ‪13 June 2020.

Image top: Mildred Pierce on St. Kilda Pier (1995, linocut, 65 x 46 cm. Collections: Australian Print Workshop, Vic., National Gallery of Australia, ACT., Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Vic., Monash University, Vic. and others).

International Women’s Day

In celebration of International Women’s Day, I give you St. Kilda Warrior, 1996, linocut, 61.2 x 45.3 cm, edition 15. (Australian National Gallery, ACT; Australian Print Workshop, Melbourne; City of Port Phillip, Vic. and other collections).

Opening night of 20[2020]

Featured here are two captured moments from last night’s opening of 20[2020] at Tacit Galleries. (See also my previous post). 

In photo 1 (top), I’m pictured with my painting New Horizon. (Photographer: Dmetri Kakmi, with artistic direction from Megan Backhouse). 

Photo 2, above, shows artist Jim Pavlidis (left) and model Leigh Hobbs (right) flanking Jim’s portrait of Leigh. (Note the portrait-within-a-portrait of the subject's immortal creation, Mr Chicken).

20[2020] concludes on 15 March.

New Horizon and FOTP 2020

New Horizon (progress view) acrylic on linen, 50 x 50 cm

New Horizon, the painting-in-progress pictured above, is destined for the exhibition 20 [2020], a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Tacit Galleries in Melbourne.

Exhibition dates are 4 - 15 March, 2020.

Meanwhile, over at Moth Woman Press, we are busily constructing four new zines and making up some new copies of old favourites (see below) for the upcoming Sticky Institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair, which this year will be held at the Meat Market in North Melbourne.

FOTP 2020 is a two-day event, running from 8 - 9 February. Moth Woman Press will be there on the second day, Sunday, 9 February, from 12 - 5 pm and would love to see you there.

For full details about FOTP 2020, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

All proceeds from Moth Woman Press sales at FOTP 2020 will be donated to Wildlife Victoria's Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

Save the date

If your year isn't already booked up, please save the date for Backstories, my solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne. The show doesn't open until 15 April, with the opening event on Saturday, 18 April from 2 - 4 pm. But with Easter buns already in the shops, it will come round fast enough. I do hope you can make it.

A new dawn

The sun rises on a new decade and a kinder, gentler world in Soothsayer (acrylic on linen, 40.5 x 30.5 cm).

Wishing you a safe and happy New Year, with all the good things you would wish for yourself in 2020, and beyond.

Another New Year's Eve

At the start of 2019, the painting in the top left-hand corner above was on my easel. I wondered then, as we all do when another year has just lurched to a close, what the coming year would bring. If only I'd known.

The images above are not my "best nine"; rather they are a random selection of some of the works undertaken during 2019. It was a surprisingly productive year. Given the unexpected direction our lives took, I still can't believe I managed any studio time at all.

Most years are a roller coaster ride and this one was no exception. I hope it has ended on a positive note for you, as it has for Shane, Alice and I. 

An invitation to WONDERMENT

Please find attached your very own invitation to Queenscliff Gallery & Workshop’s summer exhibition, WONDERMENT. Pictured: Splendid emerald wasp woman' (detail).

Exhibiting artists: Antonio Balletta, Christine Gibson, Lizzie Horne, Hyun Ju Kim, Deborah Klein, Michael Leunig, Soula Mantalvanos, David Moore, Geoffrey Ricardo, John Ryrie and Lucinda Tanner. 

EXHIBITION DATES: Nov 29 — Feb 24

OFFICIAL OPENING: Dec 1 from 3pm 

We do hope you can join us, either at the opening or during the exhibition's run. 

To learn more about WONDERMENT, go HERE.

Harlequin bug tattoo

On the work table: Harlequin bug tattoo, pigmented drawing ink and gouache on Khadi paper, 21 x 15 cm

Following directly from my previous post, Harlequin bug tattoo is another work begun in my hotel room in August during the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival (see below). The drawing, pictured above, was completed after my return to Ballarat. Scroll down further for selected progress views and to meet a real Harlequin bug.

The insect tattoo is modelled on the species Dindymus versicolor, commonly called Harlequin bugs, that regularly visit my studio in the back garden of the house we'll soon be leaving.

It’s a very pretty insect, but don’t let appearances fool you. Dindymus versicolor is regarded as a pest, reportedly attacking cotton, kurrajong, vegetables, pome fruits, stone fruits, grapes, figs, strawberries, violets, wisteria and dahlias. I don’t like to throw accusations without proof, but think I’ve finally figured out what has been devouring our strawberries all these years. Despite all that, I'm going to miss the Harlequin bugs and my beautiful studio.

Apiarist

Apiarist, ink and gouache on Khadi paper, 21 x 15 cm

Pictured above: Apiarist, a study for a larger-scale work, but also a finished drawing (or near enough to it), made during the interminable house moving that has dominated most of this year. (More about that soon).

The work is one of several undertaken during my stay in Melbourne for the 2019 Melbourne International Film Festival back in August, although the drawing was still barely outlined by the time MIFF had ended.

One of my favourite MIFF films was the documentary, Honeyland. Its message and real-life heroine, Hatidze, a Macedonian bee keeper, impacted directly on the making of Apiarist. 

Following are a selection of progress views.

ANTHROPOCENE - The R & M McGivern Prize 2019

Deborah Klein, Phyllium giganteum homo insecta, 2018, watercolour, 41.91 x 29.72 cm
Shortlisted for the R & M McGivern Prize 2019
Photo credit: Tim Gresham

The theme of the upcoming R & M McGivern Prize 2019 is Anthropocene, and I'm delighted to be one of the 45 finalists.

The Anthropocene marks the commencement of substantial human impact on our planet’s geology and ecosystems, including climate change. The precise time of its inception is unconfirmed, but possibly dates from as early as 12,000 - 15,000 years ago. The year 1945, commonly referred to as The Great Acceleration, ushered in a period when the impact of humans on this planet would increase more dramatically than ever before. 

Yet the Anthropocene has still to be officially recognised as an official subdivision of ecological time; a final decision is unlikely to be made until at least 2021. Meanwhile, my research anticipates a new epoch: The Great De-acceleration, in which humanity acknowledges its contribution to climate and ecological breakdown and recognises that we are not separate from nature, but an integral part of it.

Phyllium Giganteum homo-insecta, pictured top, hovers at the crossroads of science and science fiction. It is one of a series of ‘unnatural history illustrations’ documenting the advancement of Homo insecta, a highly evolved Order wherein human and nature are one.

Anthropocene will be held across two venues: ArtSpace at Realm and Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery, Ringwood from 23 November 2019 - 2 February 2020. The finalists are listed below:

BECOMING MODERN

As an art student, back in the 1980s, I largely taught myself to make linocuts from examples in books, and Roger Butler’s catalogue of the relief prints in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Ballarat (1) was my bible. So you can imagine my excitement about BECOMING MODERN - AUSTRALIAN WOMEN ARTISTS 1920 -1950, which opened last week. Not only does it include many key works by the women artists in my still treasured catalogue, but also numerous examples of paintings, prints, sculptures and by other much admired Modernists, most them from the AGB’s own collection. 

Superlatives all the way for BECOMING MODERN and congratulations and thanks to Curator Julie McLaren, AGB Director Louise Tegart, and all those involved in putting together this superb show. I can’t wait to add the exhibition catalogue to my collection. To learn more about the show, visit the Ballarat Courier HERE.

Last Friday’s memorable opening night, for which we were invited to dress in the Modernist mode, was impeccably stage managed by AGB Marketing and Public Programs Officer, Peter Freund. In the top photo, I’m pictured with Thea Proctor’s iconic hand coloured linocut, The Rose (1927). What a thrill it was to see it in the flesh. (Photo credit: Shane Jones). 

Directly below, I'm with Shane Jones and BECOMING MODERN curator Julie McLaren. (Photo credit: Peter Sparkman).

BECOMING MODERN runs to 4 August. 

The show is a timely one in terms of the campaign 24 Hour Project: Know My Name at the National Gallery of Australia, which was also launched on Friday night. The campaign's aim is to draw attention to the work of creative women everywhere. It will take a damn sight longer than 24 hours for that to happen, but it's a positive start. As Nick Mitzevich, Director, National Gallery of Australia, states:

"We want to do more than have a conversation about equality, we want to take action and address the significant imbalance before us... The value of women artists in this country needs to be elevated as we are a thriving, diverse culture that should be celebrated.”

(1) Roger Butler, 1981, Melbourne Woodcuts and Linocuts of the 1920s and 1930s, Ballarat Fine Art Gallery, Ballarat, Vic.