Common thread

 

One of my favourite textiles by May Morris is Maids of Honour. Over the past few years the version of her embroidery featured in this post has piqued my imagination to the extent that it became the source of inspiration for a drawing, a small painting (the study for a larger work currently in progress) and most recently, a linocut (pictured top).

Recently I discovered a remarkable connection between Maids of Honour and the artist Marie Spartali Stillman, whose work appears next to mine on the poster for the upcoming exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Ballarat: Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris. 

On re-reading the exhibition catalogue, May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer, I noticed for the first time that the embroidery, now in the collection of Kelmscott Manor, was previously owned by Marie Spartali Stillman.

Pictured above, 1-5: 

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour 2, 2023, linocut with Chine collé, 15 x 10 cm, Ed. 40.

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour, 2020, ink, gouache watercolour and water soluble graphite, 42 x 30 cm. Private collection.

Deborah Klein, Maid of Honour (study), 2023, acrylic on canvas on board 10 x 10 cm. Currently part of the exhibition One Hundred Faces at Playing in the Attic, running until late May. 

Poster for the joint exhibitions Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris at the Art Gallery of Ballarat. The exhibitions open this Saturday, 20 May, and run to 6 August.

Maids of Honour, c. 1890, coloured silks on silk, designed and embroidered by May Morris. Collection: Kelmscott Manor, given by Frances Stillman. (Page view from May Morris Arts & Crafts Designer).

Extended dates for INTO ME SEE

Some positive post-lockdown news: the group show INTO ME SEE has been extended to Saturday 19 June 2021. 

Venue: The One Star Gallery, 301-303 Victoria Street, West Melbourne 3003

Gallery hours: Wednesday-Friday 3-7 pm and Saturday 1-7 pm

To learn more about the exhibition, go HERE and HERE.

INTO ME SEE was curated by Mariella Del Conte. For further information, visit the The One Star Gallery on Instagram HERE or on Facebook HERE. 

Pictured above LHS, top: detail of my painting New Horizon, 2020, acrylic on canvas. LHS, bottom: detail of my drawing Maid of Honour, 2020, watercolour, water soluble graphite and pigmented drawing ink. Click on the image for a clearer view. 

Recent acquisition by Maroondah City Council Art Collection

Pictured with Phyllium giganteum homo-insecta on Thursday 28 November 2019 at the launch of Anthropocene, 
the 2019 R & M McGivern Prize, at Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery. Photo credit: Shane Jones.

Last week I received the happy news that my watercolour, Phyllium giganteum homo-insecta (2018), currently part of Anthropocene, the 2019 R & M McGivern Prize, has been acquired for the Maroondah City Council Art Collection. For more about Anthropocene, go HERE.

Phyllium giganteum homo insecta, 2018, watercolour, 41.91 x 29.72 cm.
Maroondah City Council Art Collection. Photo credit: Tim Gresham.

There is still time to catch this superb show, which is exhibited in two venues: 

Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery: 32 Greenwood Ave, Ringwood Vic 3134 

and 

ArtSpace at Realm: Eastland Shopping Centre, 179 Maroondah Hwy, Ringwood Vic 3134.

Anthropocene runs to 1 February 2020.

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:

AMONGST US

European Wasp Woman, 2014, watercolour, 41.91 x 29.72, made during a
residency at The Art Vault, will shortly return there. It's one of six works from the
Homo insecta series included in AMONGST US at The Art Vault, Mildura,
running from 18 September - 7 October

I’m delighted to be showing with some of my favourite artists in

AMONGST US

A group exhibition of figurative works on paper

Curated by Rona Green

Rachel Derum

Philip Faulks  
Rona Green

Greg Harrison

Bill Hay and

Deborah Klein

Opening Saturday 21 September. Artist talk at 2.30 pm, followed by official launch from 3pm-4pm

AMONGST US

The Art Vault

43 Deakin Avenue

Mildura VIC 3500

(03)5022 0013

www.theartvault.com.au

The show runs from 18 September - 7 October 2019

R & M McGivern Prize Finalist

Some good news on Friday necessitated a trip to the framer on Saturday. My watercolour Phyllium giganteum homo insecta, 2018, is one of 45 finalists (shortlisted from 460 entries) for the R & M McGivern Prize 2019. 

Pictured top: Malcom at Omnus Framing with an earlier watercolour in the series, brought along in order to match frames, and the shortlisted work.

The exhibition of finalists will be held across two venues, ArtSpace at Realm and Maroondah Federation Estate Gallery, Ringwood from 23 November 2019 to 2 February 2020. Further details will be posted nearer the time.