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.

Acquisition by National Gallery of Australia

Leaves of Absence, 2017, unbound artist book

31 archival pigment prints in Solander box

32.5 (H) x 25.5 (W) x 4 cm (D) edition: 10 plus one artist proof

In the midst of an exceptionally hectic period, I've received some marvellous news. My artist book LEAVES OF ABSENCE has been acquired for the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia.

For additional information and page views, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

Page view from Leaves of Absence

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.

From little things big things grow

In a recent post, I described one of the Eucalyptus leaves in the Leaves of Absence series as Thumbelina sized. The same description applies to the leaves presented in this post. In fact, in its original form, the leaf featuring in the digital proof second from bottom below, is little bigger than my thumbnail.

As shown above, the tiny hand painted leaves reside in a miniature plan cabinet, one of three that I own. The first of these, acquired some years ago in a Melbourne thrift shop, contains a collection of miniature watercolours. It's titled A Cabinet of Insect Women and is part of the group exhibition From the Bower - patterns of collecting currently showing at Warrnambool Art Gallery.

I've developed this work since the show opened, but very much hope that the diminutive cabinet and its contents can be part of the Ballarat leg of the exhibition when it opens on July 29.

The digital proofs directly below are offshoots of this leaf art. They are all works in progress and will be exhibited at a later date.

Belated Easter Greetings

I began the above image, a future archival pigment print, over the long weekend. In its present digital form I was able to widely share it as an Easter greeting. Ultimately, however, it's intended to have a lifespan extending beyond this special time of year, which in Australia occurs in Autumn. 

Aside from working on this and other archival pigment prints in the making, I enjoyed some brief, but refreshing time off over Easter. 

With From the Bower - patterns of collecting at Warrnambool Art Gallery up and running, there is time for reflection and a battery recharge before the show transfers to the Art Gallery of Ballarat on 29 July. As befitting an entirely different space, the next leg, to be overseen by AGB exhibition and catalogue designer Brenda Wellman, will likely involve a slightly different take on the concept, with scope for additional artworks and collection objects. 

In my case, the latter will include three more Victorian mourning brooches, including these two, discovered on Easter Sunday in an antiques and collectibles market in Daylesford. The seed pearls encircling the cameo (which doubles as a pendant) and the brooch containing skilfully arranged human hair symbolise tears. The profile format of cameo portraits is a point of departure for my ongoing series of leaf works, also known as a poor man's (or, perhaps more accurately, a poor woman's) cameo. 

To see the third morning brooch destined for From the Bower at the AGB, go HERE.

The 2017 Festival of the Photocopier

In recent weeks, most of our creative hours have been spent at Moth Woman Press, in feverish preparation for the 2017 Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair at Melbourne Town Hall on Sunday week, February 12.

To the right of the poster above are three mini-zines I've made especially for the fair. They are (from top): Pressed for Time, Leaves of Absence and The artist's hand. Accompanying them will be an extensive array of Moth Woman Press zines and mini-zines.

To see some of my recent zine-related activities, go HERE. Better yet, come along to FOTP2017. Don't forget to stop by the Moth Woman Press table and say hello.

'The artist's hand' in the artist's hand

The artist's hand, 2017, mini-zine, 10 x 7.5 cm, edition: 100

What with the artist book Leaves of Absence nearing completion, two more artist’s books on the go and three zines in various stages of completion, Moth Woman Press is a hive of fevered activity. But I think I have the situation in hand.

Pictured above: The artist’s hand, an eight-page mini-zine, one of three new MWP zines to be unveiled at the Festival of the Photocopier zine fair (FOTP 2017) on February 12. For further information and page views, visit our sister blog, Moth Woman Press, HERE.

Memory #22

More views from the working table (see also previous post). Snapped over a period of several weeks, these photos chart the development of the archival pigment print, Memory #22 (AKA Fallen Woman) the latest work from the ever-evolving Leaves of Absence series.

Working from an outline in my sketchbook, the image was drawn freehand onto the eucalyptus leaves with white Winsor and Newton Pigment Marker:

The drawing was worked into with black W&N pigment marker and to a lesser extent with a green marker:

The completed drawing, ready for scanning:

After making dozens of digital proofs based on the above leaf art, I decided to replace the butterfly motif on the smaller of the two leaves with one that I hoped would look a little less cliched:

This is one of several proofs that resulted:

Nevertheless, I still had nagging doubts about the butterfly motif. Despite the butterfly being an intrinsic part of Chinese folklore (from which the series partly draws) I was concerned that the image might appear over sentimentalised when presented in this context.

This is the final version of the leaf art, prior to its transformation into an archival pigment print:

Countless more proofs later, here is the completed version of Memory #22, AKA Fallen Woman, 2016, archival pigment print, 41.5 x 33.3 cm:

The working table

Leaf art on the drawing board: the first stage of several Leaves of Absence archival pigment prints. The Eucalyptus leaves are pressed, coated with clear sealer and the images drawn on with Winsor and Newton pigment markers.

The markers have become an indispensable part of this project, and, as a Winsor and Newton Global Ambassador, I'm very fortunate to have had access to them before their official Australian release in early July (more about this nearer the time).

Memory #17

Featured in this post are selected development stages of Memory #17, a work in progress from Leaves of Absence, an ongoing series of archival pigment prints. For the benefit of first-time visitors to this blog, all of the leaves were sourced from Eucalyptus trees in the Victorian Goldfields town of Newstead and all of the works focus on the virtual absence of Chinese women from the goldfields during the Australian gold rush. (In 1861 the Australian population included 38,337 Chinese men, but only eleven Chinese women). My research includes an investigation of historic Chinese hairstyles.

Initially each leaf is pressed for only a short period - a few days at most - just enough to ensure a flat surface, but not long enough for its colour to fade. A clear acrylic sealer is then applied to both sides of the leaf. At this point (donning my Winsor and Newton Global Ambassador hat) I draw a simple outline onto the surface with a white Winsor and Newton Pigment Marker. The silhouette is completed with a black W&N pigment marker. Although this is by no means the finished work, it is a key stage in its development.

Now the digital component begins. The leaf is photographed with my iPad and a series of filters are applied, all of them from iPad apps and most of them used very differently from the purposes for which they were originally designed. Not for the first time, I have to thank my friend, distinguished iPad artist Deborah McMillion for her suggestions, observations and app advice.

It is not uncommon for me to make dozens of digital proofs, often over a period of several weeks - sometimes months - before arriving at one that meets my satisfaction. This one is no exception. The proofs below (1-4 from bottom) show some variations of the same image in order of its development. Like the other works in the series, Memory #17 is intended to suggest old photographs or postcards, which, like memories, have faded with time.

Selected works from Leaves of Absence will be part of a forthcoming artist book. (See Moth Woman Press HERE and HERE).

Happy New Year

2016 is a leap year, so whatever your resolutions may be, you will have 366 days to realise them. Whether your goals include turning over a new leaf or you decide to stay just as you are, may you rise to every challenge in a year filled with happiness, creativity and good health.

A clear work top ready for the New Year and new beginnings. (My workstation at Abbotsford in Melbourne).