Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards 2022

My drawing, The Needlewoman (2022, pigmented drawing ink and watercolour, 76.5 x 56 cm) is a finalist in the Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards 2022, opening tonight.

Artist Statement:

Women’s hidden histories are a primary focus of my work and one of its dominant motifs is the ‘figure seen from behind’, or Rückenfigur. A perpetual outsider, she invites us to share her journey, learn her story and see the world through her eyes. 

Like several recent works, including those featured in our previous blog post, my subject’s tattoo is based on a fragment of a needlework pattern designed by May Morris.

There are some wonderful artists in this show (including a couple of my fellow Goldfields Printmakers). It’s an honour to be counted among them.

The exhibition runs to 20 November.

Photo credit top image: Tim Gresham.

Swan Hill Print and Drawing Award finalist

 

The Needlewoman, 2022, pigmented drawing ink and watercolour, 76.5 x 56 cm, has been shortlisted for the 2022 Swan Hill Print & Drawing Acquisitive Awards at Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

The work is pictured here, all packed and ready for delivery to the good folk at Creative Framing Gallery. (Thank you, Shane Jones, for the loan of the box). 

Umpteen hours over a long period of time have gone into the development of this drawing. In fact, more than once I nearly gave up on it. Along the way, it even acquired a new title. Its inclusion in the award means a great deal. It will also be a huge relief to have the work safely under glass so I can no longer fiddle with it!

Maid of Honour, 2020 Swan Hill Print and Drawing Award finalist

One of my recent drawings, Maid of Honour (2020, ink, gouache, watercolour and water soluble graphite, 42 x 30 cm) is a finalist in the 2020 Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards.

The tattoo is based on a fragment from Maids of Honour (reproduced in the book below, left*), an embroidery designed by May Morris (1862 - 1938), the younger daughter of William and Jane Morris. At age 23, May Morris assumed charge of the Morris & Co. embroidery department and was responsible for creating some of the company’s most iconic textiles and wallpaper designs. 

Earlier progress views are below. I enjoyed working on this drawing immensely, but if truth be told, I had help.

The pattern on my subject's back was a particular challenge, even with Alice's assistance. 

Maid of Honour is one of 56 works shortlisted for the 2020 Swan Hill Print and Drawing Awards. The exhibition will officially open on Friday, 4 September at 7 pm, when the award winners will be announced.

*May Morris - Arts and Crafts Designer, Anna Mason, Jan Marsh, Jenny Lister, Rowan Bain and Hanne Faurby. With contributions by Alice McEwan and Catherine White. Foreword by Lynne Hulse. 

Thames and Hudson/V&A Publishing 2017

Women, Art and Politics

Top: Zelda Fitzgerald in the Night Garden, 1992, woodcut 53 x 74 cm
Bottom: Installation shot taken prior to my artist's talk on Wednesday, 11 March. Left to right: works by Heather Shimmen, Anne Bennett, Rona Green, Deborah Klein and Belinda Fox.

Click on images to enlarge.

Women, Art and Politics is curated by Lorri Lambert. The exhibition explores issues informing the work of female artists represented in the permanent collection of Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery
Horseshow Bend
Swan Hill, Victoria 3585.

Exhibition dates: 18 February-15 March