A peep inside… Part 2: LEAVES OF ABSENCE

A peep inside another of the books on the studio table in my blog post of Tuesday August 22, A tabletop of artist books.

The unbound artist book LEAVES OF ABSENCE, 2017, continues my exploration of women’s hidden histories, of which far too many remain tantalisingly buried. Its point of departure is the Australian Gold Rushes, a historic period from which Chinese women were all but absent. In 1861, Chinese immigrants made up 3.3 per cent of the population. Of these, 38,337 were men, compared to only eleven women. Despite considerable delving on my part, the lives of the women who remained in China remain a mystery. 

The following is an edited version of my speech at the launch of LEAVES OF ABSENCE at Melbourne Atheneum Library in November 2017. 

… In Newstead alone, there were over 3000 Chinese miners. The Eucalyptus leaves in LEAVES OF ABSENCE were sourced there because of their significance to the project but also because of their singular shapes - in part the result of interventions by my 'insect collaborators', the Eucalyptus tip bugs. So invaluable was their contribution, they rate a special mention on the book’s colophon page.

In my work, silhouettes are principally metaphors for marginalization or invisibility... 

…The enchanting fairy tale films of German born silhouette animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger (1889-1981) are a key influence on all my work with silhouettes. Influences entirely specific to this project include early photography and silent film. Contrary to popular belief, not all of the first moving images were in black and white. In many cases, a series of coloured filters were applied, usually to indicate mood, while other directors, including one of the masters of early film, Georges Melies, employed artists, usually teams of women, to painstakingly hand colour his films frame by frame.

... My initial research included a study of historical Chinese women’s hairstyles. Reduced to shadow forms, however, the women could equally be from any place or time, including the present.

To read the full speech, my response to Marguerite Brown’s marvellous opening address, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

Images 1-7 above: LEAVES OF ABSENCE with selected page views.

Image 8 below: Installation view at Melbourne Atheneum Library in 2017, followed by Image 9: Hand-painted eucalyptus leaves, the basis for the illustrations in the book. 

LEAVES OF ABSENCE is part of the three-person show ARTIST BOOKS & FOLIOS at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, opening on September 20. Full details are below.

Causes for Celebration

There is a lot of catching up to be done on this blog. It seems to me that a very good place to start is our celebratory evening at Carboni’s Italian Kitchen in Ballarat on 28 November, a personal “thanksgiving” meal marking the return to good health, the end of an era and the start of a new one. 

A toast to all the friends who’ve supported me on my journey over the past two years, especially my wonderful partner, Shane Jones, who took the above photo. 

I don’t want to give the impression that all I do is imbibe Prosecco (although it certainly must look that way). In my defence, there has been a lot to celebrate lately.

Directly above and below: last Sunday afternoon’s post-theatre drinks in the bar of Her Majesty’s, my favourite Melbourne theatre, watched over by the venerable Barry Humphries and Stephen Fry.  We had just attended a matinee of Hamilton, a thoughtful and generous birthday gift from Shane. Neither of us was entirely sure the musical lived up to all the hype. But it had its moments and we still a enjoyed splendid afternoon.

Finally, A snapshot from last night’s memorable farewell celebration for Sue Westwood, Business Manager of Melbourne Athenaeum Library  for the past 13 years. (Photo credit: Shane Jones).

Sue was instrumental in appointing me as Artist-in-Residence at the library in 2018, a happy and extremely productive experience I’ll always remember fondly. Under Sue’s auspices, the library was the first public institution to acquire my artist book, Leaves of Absence.

It was lovely to see many familiar faces and terrific to catch up with Patricia Cornelius, the Playwright in Residence during my time there, and to meet Melissa Reeves, the library’s 2021 Playwright in Residence.

Wishing Sue all the best for the future. She has promised to keep in touch and I will most certainly hold her to that!

One last look at 2018

Surveying the year that was. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

January is more than halfway over and the year is already gathering speed. Even before the old year ended, Easter buns had made their first appearances in the stores, which is beyond crazy. But before joining the headlong rush into 2019 (hopefully at a more measured pace) I thought it important to note some high points from the year that was. My original list was quite long, but as I have already left it rather late, I've considerably whittled it down.

L - R: Bower Artists Louise Saxton, myself, Carole Wilson and Loris Button with our communal collections wall
at the Johnston Collection, 2018. Photo credit: Louis Le Vaillant.

The new iteration of the 2017 touring show, FROM THE BOWER: patterns of collecting, refigured as PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, was a joy from beginning to end. In all its various forms, the show was a huge part of my life for well over two years. It was a tremendous learning experience on more levels than I can count and a testament to what can be achieved by true creative collaboration. I’ll miss working with Bower Artists Loris Button, Carole Wilson and Louise Saxton, and the unwavering support, enthusiasm and flexibility of Louis Le Vaillant, Director/Curator of The Johnston Collection and his brilliant team. As far as exhibiting experiences go, TJC has certainly set the bar high. 

The planning stages of our show. Pictured L-R: Loris Button, Carole Wilson, Louis Le Vaillant and Louise Saxton.

Among the many visitors to PATTERNS OF COLLECTING were literary luminaries and dear friends
Leigh Hobbs and Dmetri Kakmi, seen here clowning in the 'Menagerie' Room. This was Leigh's second visit to the show.

For those who would like to revisit our collective bower, the museum has commissioned a short film. If you weren't able to make it along during the show's long run, it will give you some idea of what you missed. To view the film, click HERE.

Installation view of my homo-insecta watercolours in My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne.

For lovers of gothic literature and fans of the horror and science fiction genres, 2018 was noteworthy as the bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s landmark novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, an anniversary that was widely celebrated throughout the year. The book and its legacy infiltrated a substantial part of the program for Melbourne Rare Book Week. It was also the inspiration for curator Evelyn’s Tsitas’s superlative exhibition My Monster: The Human Animal Hybrid at RMIT Gallery, Melbourne. I’m indebted to Evelyn Tsitas (Senior Advisor, Communications and Outreach) and Helen Rayment (Acting Director and Senior Exhibitions Officer) for inviting me to participate in the latter (see above).

Working on the artist book Progeny during my residency at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library.

Melbourne Athenaeum Library has been a pillar of support over the last couple of years. In June/July, a residency in connection with Melbourne Rare Book Week afforded me the opportunity to work in one of my favourite places. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was the catalyst for the two projects I undertook during the residency: a series of linocuts for Frankenstein's Women, a forthcoming artist book, and Progeny, a one-of-a-kind artist book. 

In particularly exciting news, my artist book LEAVES OF ABSENCE was acquired by the Melbourne Athenaeum Library (the site of its launch in late 2017), the State Library of Victoria and, towards the year’s end, the National Gallery of Australia.

Installation view of LEAVES OF ABSENCE (with ceramic snail courtesy of TJC) in
PATTERNS OF COLLECTING, From the Bower at The Johnston Collection.

My warmest thanks to Sue Westwood, Business Manager, Melbourne Athenaeum Library, Des Cowley, History of the Book Manager, State Library of Victoria and Roger Butler, Senior Curator, Australian Prints, Drawings and Illustrated Books, National Gallery of Australia for instigating the acquisitions.

For more about LEAVES OF ABSENCE, the Athenaeum Residency and other book-related news, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

With Shane Jones and our entries for the Exquisite Palette show, Tacit Galleries Melbourne. Photo credit: Louise Blyton.

Other personal highlights included St Luke’s fabulous The Exquisite Palette show, which I wouldn’t have missed for the world. Shane Jones and I are pictured above with our embellished palettes. Shane’s painted palette is a trompe l’oeil “sketchbook drawing" of our cat Alice. He has created an uncannily convincing illusion - even the “masking tape” is painted on. 

Shane and I were also participating artists in DRAWING STRENGTH, artist/curator Jo Lane's fine tribute to the art of drawing at Montsalvat Arts Centre, which concluded on 6 January. Jo has just published some installation views of the show on her website HERE.

Speaking of pillars of support (as I was several paragraphs back) I don’t know what I’d do without Shane, and neither of us know how we ever lived without little Alice. Funny, lively, mischievous, smart, sassy, daffy, daggy and incredibly bossy, she is not only a constant delight, but is also a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously.

2018 may be fast fading into the distance, but you still have time to see my linocut Prelude in the Australian Print Workshop’s biennial fundraising show IMPRESSIONS 2018 before it finishes on 16 February. 

Also carrying over from last year, my painting Vorticist 2 (above, top row, centre) is part of the spectacular new hang in the entrance to the Art Gallery of Ballarat. (See previous post). Photo credit: Shane Jones.

In 2019 I have several projects lined up. I’ll post about each one nearer the time. My primary intention, however, is to continue the year as I’ve already begun it, namely, to further develop the series of paintings I started last year - hopefully with fewer interruptions. Aside from essential side-trips to Melbourne, this will necessitate declining all extraneous invitations, staying put in Ballarat and spending as many hours in the studio as are humanly possible. 

At present Caspar David Friedrich, a handsomely illustrated book by Norbert Wolf, lies open next to my work table.The German Romantic painter's work is a key influence on the current series. I've just glanced down at the chapter heading, which reads: 'A journey to where?' I've no idea what lies ahead on the next leg of my own journey, but I'm very much looking forward finding out. 

Starting here, starting now

Progress view of Non-portrait 1 and Non-portrait 2, miniature watercolours, together with the vintage
frames in which they will be displayed

I haven't made too many New Year Resolutions, but at the top of my short list is a solemn vow to take things a great deal more slowly than I have in past years, particularly in 2017. Towards this end, I've become extremely selective about taking on new commitments, particularly those that constantly interrupt precious studio time, with each disruption not only taking me further away from achieving my goals, but also leaving little time to pause and reflect, let alone spend quality time with friends and family.

There are, however, a handful of side-projects I'm particularly excited about, doubly so, as all of them are adjuncts to the longterm project I'm about to undertake.*

One of these is PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection. Louis LeVaillant, Director/Curator of the Johnston Collection in East Melbourne recently invited Loris Button, Louise Saxton, Carole Wilson and myself to exhibit a site specific version of From the bower - patterns of collecting at the Johnston Collection in 2018. The show enjoyed long and successful runs at Warrnambool Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Ballarat during 2017.

The majority of our artworks and collections will respond to facets of the museum's wonderfully diverse permanent collection. Along with selected pieces from the show's previous incarnations, we've all elected to exhibit previously unseen collection objects and artworks, with most of the latter made specifically for the show.

For example, taking the museum's superb collection of portrait miniatures as a basis, I've begun a series of miniature watercolour paintings. True to the Bower Bird spirit, I have also amassed a substantial collection of vintage frames recalling those in which traditional portrait miniatures are housed. Progress views of the first two watercolours and their matching frames are pictured above and closeup views of the paintings are shown below.

The following information is from the Johnston Collection's website:

PATTERNS OF COLLECTING | From the Bower at The Johnston Collection

Monday 4 June 2018 - Tuesday 18 September 2018

An installation led by guest curator and artist, Carole Wilson as part of our ongoing ‘house of ideas’ series

PATTERNS OF COLLECTING presents artwork and items from the personal collections of four contemporary Victorian artists: Loris Button, Deborah Klein, Louise Saxton and Carole Wilson.

The artists, who make the Bower, are linked by their studio practice, their regional locations and connections, and their love of gleaning. Their studio collections range from curiosities, natural history specimens, memorabilia, discarded books and china, domestic textiles, carpet and linoleum, and old tools of trade.

FOR DETAILS OF OPENING HOURS AND TO MAKE AN ON-LINE BOOKING FOR THIS EXHIBITION, GO HERE. 

L - R: Non-portrait 1, watercolour, 9 x 7 cm and Non-portrait 2, watercolour, 13 x 9 cm (progress view)

Non-portrait 1, slightly enlarged. (Progress view)

Non-portrait 2 (progress view)

In 2017 I was invited by the Melbourne Athenaeum Library to be their Artist-in-Residence for Melbourne Rare Book Week, which runs from 29 June - 8 July, 2018.

During that time, my limited edition artist book, Leaves of Absence, which was launched at the library in December, 2017 and subsequently acquired for their permanent collection, will be on view in the library, along with selected copies of Moth Woman Press books and zines.

Throughout the two-week residency, which commences in the week leading up to Melbourne Rare Book Week, I'll be working on a new artist book. Like my project for the Johnston Collection, it will revisit the Knots and Braids imagery that for many years has been central to much of my work. The artist book will also mark a return to linocutting, following a brief hiatus.

Needless to say, I'll have my head down preparing for both of these events.

Meanwhile, I'm delighted to have been invited by Charles Nodrum Gallery to participate in Heads and Bodies, a group exhibition exploring the depiction of the human head and body. Kate Nodrum has selected my oil pastel, The Secret Plait, for inclusion in the show. Full details will be supplied nearer the time.

Heads and Bodies will run from 1 - 17 March, 2018.


*In brief, my intention is to take up where I left off at the end of last year's short but fruitful residency at the Art Vault.