Istoria: History, Story, Tale, A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition

I’m delighted to be part of Istoria: History, Story, Tale, A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition at Arc Yinnar, opening on Saturday, 24 June.

Memory 14 and Memory 40, my works in Istoria, explore the historic connection between the Victorian Goldfields and China during the gold rushes, a period of Australian history from which Chinese women were all but absent. 

… The word history refers to all time preceding this very moment and everything that 'really' happened up to now. The distinctions may be much messier than that of course and as printmakers - people who use visual imagery to imaginatively convey meaning - we make full use of the freedom afforded by mark-making, to play with the way a picture tells a thousand stories, histories or tales.

- Excerpt from Istoria, exhibition essay by Dr. Loris Button.

Istoria: History, Story, Tale

A Goldfields Printmakers Survey Exhibition

Opening address by Gippsland printmaker Jenny Peterson

2pm, Saturday, 24 June

Arc Yinnar  

19 - 23 Main Street 

Yinnar, Vic 3839

Telephone: 03 5163 1310

http://arcyinnar.org.au

The exhibition runs to Sunday, 23 July

Pictured from top, 1-3:

Memory 14,  Phemograph, (archival pigment print), 32.5 x 24.2 cm

Memory 40, Phemograph, (archival pigment print), 28 x 21.4 cm

Invitation to Istoria with list of participating artists

Istoria

Istoria: history, story, tale, a Goldfields Printmakers exhibition, opens at Burra Regional Art Gallery on Thursday January 26.

The official opening is on Saturday, January 28 at 5.30 pm. Full details are on the invitation below; click on it for an enlarged view. 

Memory 40, one of two prints I have in the show, reflects a long-held interest in hidden histories. My works pose a question that may be unanswerable. During the Australian gold rushes, what fates befell the thousands of women and girls who remained in China after their menfolk departed for the goldfields? 

In 1861, Chinese immigrants made up 3.3 per cent of the Australian population. The vast majority (38,337) were men, compared to only eleven women. But virtually nothing is known about the women who stayed behind.

Recalling the traditional Chinese art of cut paper silhouettes, profiles of Chinese women were hand-painted onto similarly ephemeral Eucalyptus leaves and transformed into archival pigment prints suggestive of fading Victorian photographs. All of the leaves in this series were sourced in the forest at Newstead, which, at the height of the Victorian gold rushes, was a base for over 3000 Chinese miners.

Istoria

The exhibition theme is broadly based on the concept of Istoria/ἱστορία

The term history has evolved from an ancient Greek verb istoria which means "to know". Originally meaning inquiry, the act of seeking knowledge, as well as the knowledge that results from inquiry or what we now call histories, stories or tales.

The Oxford Dictionary gives a definition of the tale as a fictitious or true narrative or story, especially one that is imaginatively recounted. 

The words story and history share much of their lineage, however today we mostly think of the dividing line as the one between fact and fiction. Stories may be fanciful tales woven at bedtime, melodramatic plots, or the relating of a simple tale. Histories, on the other hand, are records of events, although the veracity of those events usually depends on who has written the history/herstory.

The word history refers to all-time preceding this very moment and everything that 'really' happened up to now. The distinctions may be much messier than that of course and as printmakers — people who use visual imagery to imaginatively convey meaning - we make full use of the freedom afforded by mark-making, to play with the way a picture tells a thousand stories, histories or tales.

- From the catalogue essay by Dr. Loris Button

Istoria: history, story, tale

Bence Room,

Burra Regional Art Gallery,

6 Market Street,

Burra, SA.

Open daily 1-4

January 26-March 12

Pictured top: Memory 40, 2017, Archival pigment print, 28 x 21.4 cm, edition 20.

Last weekend of ‘The Printmaker’s Garden of Imagination’

 

A substantial part of the past week has been spent numbering, titling and signing freshly minted copies of The Heavens Declare (1) and (2) in readiness for the final days of the Goldfields Printmakers group exhibition, The Printmaker’s Garden of Imagination. 

Sold copies of the linocuts can be collected from the gallery at the end of the last day of the show, Sunday 25 September, or, unless other arrangements have been made, they will be posted to their new owners early next week.

The response to these prints, the first of a planned suite, has been hugely gratifying and encouraging. They will also form part of a future artist book. I’ve even received an advance order for it from a rare book collector. Fortunately he is in no rush!

The Printmaker’s Garden of Imagination

Newstead Arts Hub
8A Tivey Street, Newstead VIC 3642
Opening Hours: Sat and Sun 10am - 4pm

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination can also be viewed at IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Symposium in Bristol, UK. 

Photos 1-2 above: The Heavens Declare (1) and The Heavens Declare (2), each 2022, linocut, chine-collé, 20 x 15 cm (image), 42 x 29 cm (paper), ed: 30.

Continuing this weekend: The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination

 

Owing to initial time constraints, I only printed a couple of each of my two linocuts in the current Goldfields Printmakers exhibition, The Printmaker’s Garden of Imagination at Newstead Arts Hub, never dreaming there would be any interest in them. Much gratitude to those who have already acquired one or both, or have placed orders.

Part of the past week was spent printing further works from the limited editions of 30. Fortunately my trusty Poppy Press didn’t let me down, as Alice (pictured above) will attest. 

Unless other arrangements have been made, the works will be available for collection on Sunday 25 September, the last day of the exhibition. 

Newstead Arts Hub,

8A Tivey Street, Newstead VIC 3642
The show is open every weekend until 25 September.
Opening Hours: Sat and Sun 10am - 4pm

The Printmaker’s Garden of Imagination will also be shown at IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, UK.

Pictured above: The Heavens Declare (1) and (2), 2022, linocut, chine-collé, each 20 x 15 cm (image), 42 x 29 cm (paper), ed: 30. (Installation view at Newstead Arts Hub).

The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination launched at Newstead Arts Hub

 

Here are some snapshots of last Sunday’s lively opening celebration of the latest Goldfields Printmakers exhibition, The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination, beginning with a shot of not quite all, but most of the exhibiting artists. 

In their entirety they are: 

Loris Button, Anne Langdon, James Pasakos, Dianne Longley, Barbara Semler, Marte Newcombe, Deborah Klein, Jan Palethorpe, Susan Clarke, Robyn Gibson, Jackie Gorring, Marie Mason, Emma Stoneman, Penny Peckham, Diana Orinda Burns, Melissa Proposch and Catherine Pilgrim.

Do get along and see it if you can. The exhibition is open every weekend until 25 September. 

Newstead Arts Hub

8A Tivey Street, Newstead VIC 3642

Website: https://newsteadartshub.org/

Email: info@newsteadartshub.org

Opening Hours: Sat and Sun 10am - 4pm

Later this month, The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination will be exhibited at IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, UK.

Photo credit for first and fifth views: Shane Jones, and for final view: Megan Finlayson.

The Heavens Declare

The Heavens Declare (1), 2022, pictured top, is part of the forthcoming Goldfields Printmakers exhibition, The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination. Like its sister work, The Heavens Declare (2), (see below) it takes a detail from The Heavens Declare… (c. 1910), a needlework by British Arts and Crafts artist and designer May Morris (1862-1938), as its point of departure. 

Both linocuts reflect on the formative years I spent in UK and on my home country of Australia - in this instance, my present home in the Victorian Goldfields city of Ballarat. This work also recalls the wild rose bushes still found on the goldfields that were originally planted by British colonists as sentimental reminders of their own home country.

The Heavens Declare (2), 2022, pictured above, references the introduction of orange trees to Australia. In 1788, orange seeds were brought over by Captain Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales. Reverend Richard Johnson, Chaplain of the fledgling colony, subsequently planted a small orange grove in Bridge Street, Sydney. They were the first orange trees in Australia to bear fruit. 

Scroll down to my last post for further information about the show, including a list of participating artists.

Opening event: Saturday 3 September, 2.00 - 3.30 pm 

Newstead Arts Hub

8A Tivey Street, Newstead VIC 3642

Opening Hours: Sat and Sun 10am - 4pm

Current to 25 September.

The exhibition will run concurrently at IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, UK.

Pictured top: The Heavens Declare (1), 2022, linocut, chine-collé, 20 x 15 cm (image), ed: 30.

Pictured second: The Heavens Declare (2), 2022, linocut, chine-collé, 20 x 15 cm (image), ed: 30.

The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination

Deborah Klein, The Heavens Declare (2), 2022,  

Linocut, chine collé, 20 x 15 cm, Edition 1/30

You are cordially invited to

THE PRINTMAKERS’ GARDEN OF IMAGINATION 

An exhibition of prints by GOLDFIELDS PRINTMAKERS

at Newstead Arts Hub

Opening Event: Sat 3 September 2 - 3.30 pm

Participating Artists

Loris Button

Anne Langdon

James Pasakos

Dianne Longley

Barbara Semler

Marte Newcombe

Deborah Klein

Jan Palethorpe

Susan Clarke

Leonie Auhl

Robyn Gibson

Jackie Gorring

Marie Mason

Emma Stoneman

Penny Peckham

Diana Orinda Burns

Melissa Proposch

Catherine Pilgrim

Goldfields Printmakers, a collective of 25 printmakers based in the Victorian Goldfields region, was formed in 2012. To learn more about the group, visit our website HERE. 

Newstead Arts Hub

8A Tivey Street, Newstead VIC 3642

 Website: https://newsteadartshub.org/

Email: info@newsteadartshub.org

Opening Hours: Sat and Sun 10am - 4pm

The exhibition runs to 25 September.

The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination will be exhibited concurrently at IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, UK.

Another linocut for IMPACT 12

 

Hot off my little craft press: a proof of the second of two linocuts heading for IMPACT 12, the International Printmaking Conference in Bristol, UK, as part of a Goldfields Printmakers portfolio. 

The Poppy Crafts A4 die cutting and embossing machine doubles as an excellent press for smaller sized relief prints. (The work pictured here measures 20 x 15 cm). This craft press has the added benefit of adjustable pressure and is a pleasure to use, giving none of the grief I’ve experienced with printing linocuts on an etching press. 

Further updates on this and its sister work will be posted shortly. 

THINKING OF PLACE II - further travels

Today’s blog post brings news I’ve been remiss about sharing earlier: the group exhibition, THINKING OF PLACE II, originally conceived for the international print symposium IMPACT 10 in Santander, Spain in 2018, is currently on exhibit at Northsite Contemporary Arts in Cairns, Far North Queensland. The show opened in September and continues to November 7.

Prints being multiples, from today, October 21, and continuing to November 1, the exhibition will run concurrently at Arthaus Contemporary Gallery in Orakei, Auckland, New Zealand. For further information, visit the Facebook page of THINKING OF PLACE II HERE.

Yesterday a review of the exhibition by Ina Arraoui arrived in my inbox - an unexpected and delightful surprise. My contribution to the show, the phemograph Detritus, 2018, pictured above, is referenced in the review. Back in 2018, I was unable to travel to Santander for IMPACT 10. With continued travel restrictions, it’s possible I won’t even get to see the exhibition in any of its subsequent venues, so my thanks and gratitude are extended to Ina for giving many others in the same boat a very real sense of what THINKING OF PLACE II is about.

Ina Arraoui is a New Zealand-based print artist and curator. Her website is HERE.

The introductory paragraphs of Ina Arraoui’s review are directly below. To read the review in its entirety, click HERE. 

Introduction

Although many of us envisage a physical geographical location when thinking of place, it’s more often than not a complex synthesis of feelings and memories that ultimately defines our relationship to a place. Printmaking artist and academic Monika Lukowska argues that notions of place are inseparable from the human experience, referencing geographer Yi-Fu Tuan’s theory of “topophilia” whereby place only comes into existence when meaning is attached to a certain location resulting from time spent between the person and the space (2018). The exhibition Thinking of Place II is an impressive cultural exchange project where over 60 artists from 9 printmaking collectives across 5 countries have been invited to make works exploring questions of place. Artists were encouraged to reflect on the relationship between place, memory and time, using a range of traditional and contemporary printmaking processes and techniques, resulting in a rich and engaging conversation, as diverse in perspectives as in the collection’s visual presentation. 

Background to the project

Thinking of Place was initially conceived as a cultural exchange project between five artist groups from New Zealand and Australia. Members of each group had met at the IMPACT 8 Conference in Dundee, Scotland, instantly striking a lasting friendship and giving birth to a trans Tasman collaborative print project.  After a successful first edition of the exchange, which was exhibited in each of the host cities, the organisers decided to continue the momentum with a second iteration of the project to be exhibited at IMPACT 10. In the spirit of the printmaking community, which is marked by a distinctly inclusive, collaborative approach, the project expanded to include four more groups from Canada, Ireland and the UK.  Whether a group is based on a shared geographical location or print studio, each one is committed to advancing printmaking and supporting artists working in print-based media. Collaborative projects such as Thinking of Place give printmakers the opportunity to not only exhibit their work on the international stage but to foster professional and personal connections across the printmaking community, globally. Participating artists have been selected by each group either by invitation or open call. 

Read on HERE.

Some recent events

The Goldfields Printmakers end of year meeting in Kittelty's at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
Left: GP Treasurer, Anne Langdon, centre: James Pasakos; far right: Loris Button. 

On Saturday, 1 December, the Goldfields Printmakers held their final meeting for 2018 over an early pre-Christmas brunch at Kittelty's, the Art Gallery of Ballarat's splendid cafe.

After our meeting, the Goldfields Printmakers visited the Arts Academy, where we viewed
  Encounter, our portfolio of prints exhibited in the Open Folio section of IMPACT 10  

In recent weeks, GP founder James Pasakos and GP member Loris Button returned from IMPACT 10, the international print conference in Santander, Spain. Our group exhibited in the Open Folio section and some members, including James and Loris, also held major shows. Other members, including myself, participated in group exhibitions - in my case, Thinking of Place ll.

The meeting was a timely opportunity to share the news of the acquisition of my artist book Leaves of Absence by the National Gallery of Australia. The first archival pigment prints I ever made were for Not Born Digital, the Goldfields Printmakers project created for IMPACT 9 in Hangzhou, China in 2015. They sowed the seeds for a completely new direction in my work that over the following two years culminated in Leaves of Absence and, more recently, the archival pigment print Bell Jar, 2018. (See following image).

Future Goldfields Printmakers shows will be announced in the New Year, once venues and dates have been confirmed.

At Tacit Galleries with my archival pigment print, Bell Jar, inspired by Sylvia Plath's semi-
autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

Blarney Books and Art's tenth annual Biblio Art Prize exhibition recently travelled from its home in Port Fairy to Tacit Galleries in Collingwood, where it continues until Sunday, 16 December. Two of my works, Bell Jar, an archival pigment print, and Progeny, a unique artist book, are finalists in this year's Biblio.

The photos directly above and below were taken at Tacit Galleries on opening night, Wednesday 5 December.

An installation view of my one-of-a-kind artist book Progeny, currently at Tacit Galleries as part of Biblio Art Prize 2018.
Progeny, which was highly commended, takes Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein as its point of departure.

In other recent news, on Friday, December 7, Shane Jones and I attended the Australian Print Workshop Artist's Party, thrown by the APW as a thank you to all the artists who donated print editions to IMPRESSIONS 2018, its biennial fundraising exhibition.

As in previous years, we were treated to some memorable musical interludes. Guitar duo Graeme Drendel and Rick Amor were a marvellous 'warm-up' act to the fabulous Press Gang, comprising Jazmina Cininas, Julie Forrester, Simon White, Martin King, Adrian Kellett and Graeme Drendel. Printmaking luminaries, all of them, and damned fine musicians too.

L-R: APW Director Anne Virgo, Rick Amor, Martin King and Graeme Drendel

The legendary Press Gang, from L-R: Jazmina Cininas, Simon White, Julie Forrester, Adrian Kellett, Martin King
 and Graeme Drendel

As if this weren't enough, there were also prizes. I never win door prizes, raffles and suchlike, so couldn't have been more surprised when my name was one of those drawn from a hat. I won a linocut 'hamper' that included a lino block of the exact size I'm using for a current project, a tube of Charbonnel (my favourite ink), a baren and a fine set of linocut tools. Coincidentally, Shane won an identical prize. We're both feeling rather chuffed.

Directly below are just some of the many prints on view in IMPRESSIONS 2018. My linocut, Prelude, is on the bottom row, centre.

For further details of IMPRESSIONS 2018, including a complete list of participating artists, go HERE.

The show continues to 16 February, 2019. To check the APW's hours over the Christmas break, go HERE.

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.