Re-enchantment

My work can soon be glimpsed in Re-enchantment, an immersive journey into the meaning of fairy tales that will screen on ABC television.  The works shown here are those that were originally chosen, but I have no idea if they all made the final cut. Even if they don't, I thought it was an interesting selection, and show them here in their entirety. Hair has been a prominent symbol in my work for well over a decade. The Long, Long Braid, 2001 (pictured left) also illustrates my own fairy tale The Girl in the Tower, the opening story in my book There was once… The collected fairy tales (published by Moth Woman Press, 2009).

Re-enchantment is written and directed by Sarah Gibson and produced by Sue Maslin. It will be officially launched on Wednesday 2 March at 5pm at the Palace Cinema 3, Adelaide as part of the Adelaide Film Festival. Further details are on the Adelaide Film Festival website: http://tix.adelaidefilmfestival.org/session3.asp?sn=Re-enchantment

The Re-enchantment website will also be launched on March 2:
 http://www.abc.net.au/tv/re-enchantment/

For those in Melbourne, ACMI are hosting a two-day Symposium called Fairy Tales Re-Imagined on the 10 and 11 March:

http://www.acmi.net.au/fairy-tales-reimagined.aspx

The Sydney launch will be on the evening of Thursday 24 March at the Surry Hills Library.

Re-enchantment will go live on Wednesday 2 March in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK:

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/re-enchantment/

The television interstitials and radio programs will be broadcast on ABC TV and ABC Radio National throughout the month of March.

Re-enchantment’s regular updates can be followed on Facebook: 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Re-enchantment/125219870872528

And on Twitter: 

http://twitter.com/reenchantment

Pictured above:
The Long, Long Braid, 2001, acrylic on canvas 141 x 40.5 cm. Private collection

Swaddle, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 

136 x 40.5 cm. Private collection

Column, 2000, acrylic on canvas,

20 x 15 cm. Private collection

Enough Rope, 1999, acrylic on canvas, 
30 x 17.5 cm.

Private collection

Scheherazade, 2004, oil pastel, 55.5 x 57.5 cm. 

Private collection

Witness, 2004, oil pastel, 122 x 76.5 cm
Private collection

Vorticist 2, 2004, oil and acrylic on canvas, 

122 x 91 cm. Collection: Art Gallery of Ballarat 

The Art Vault Exhibition at Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery

Winged Women, 2010, linocuts, individual works 30 x 30 cm

Collection: The Art Vault. Photograph by Tim Gresham

Ian Tully, Director of Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, has curated an exhibition focusing on  artists who have worked at The Art Vault. Included in the exhibition are the Winged Women linocuts, the blocks of which I worked on during my first residency at The Art Vault in July 2009. Other artists in the show include ex de Medici, Rosalind Atkins, Mike Parr, John Cattapan, Martin King, Shane Jones and John Young.

It's good news that Swan Hill Gallery has re-opened its doors. Recently it was forced to close temporarily due to concerns about rising floodwater from Little Murray River.

The exhibition opened on 12 February and concludes on 27 March.

The Art Vault Exhibition

SWAN HILL REGIONAL ART GALLERY 


Horseshoe Bend

Swan Hill 

Victoria 3585 Australia 


Telephone: 03 5036 2430

Facsimile: 03 5036 2465


artgal@swanhill.vic.gov.au

Gallery hours: Tues - Fri 10 am  - 5 pm; Sat - Sun 11 am - 5 pm

Mildred Pierce in the Art Gallery of New South Wales

As I continue grappling with fledgling imagery in the studio, a work from the increasingly distant past has reappeared:

Mildred Pierce on St. Kilda Pier, 1995,
linocut, 65 x 45 cm

Only recently I learned that Mildred Pierce on St. Kilda Pier, a key work from the Film Noir linocuts of the mid 1990s, has been in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales since 2009.

Its primary inspiration was the film Mildred Pierce (1945, directed by Michael Curtiz) which in turn was based on the novel by James M. Cain. The setting has been transposed from its original locale of Glendale in Southern California to my home town of St. Kilda, where I was living when I worked on the series.

Mildred Pierce on St. Kilda Pier is also in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Deakin University and the Art Gallery of Ballarat. It was included in the 2008 touring Survey Exhibition Deborah Klein - Out of the Past 1995-2007 which was curated by Diane Soumilas.

My affection for Film Noir has never wavered. (See February 12 post More Moth Woman Vigilantes on Moth Woman Press Artist's Books and Zines Blog.)

Sketchbook stuff

Myth-entomology: some fresh ideas and new directions...

Orchard Swallowtail Winged Woman

Cicada Winged Woman

Shield-backed Katydid Winged Woman

Spider Hunting Wasp Woman

Red-bodied Swallowtail Winged Woman

Magpie Moth Winged Woman

Hover fly Winged Woman

All works pencil in A4 sized sketch book (21.0 × 29.7 cm)

A visit to Melbourne Museum

Last week I spent a day at the Melbourne Museum, mainly at Bugs Alive! doing some photographic research for my Myth-entomology project. Bugs Alive! is unquestionably my favourite exhibit in the museum. These pictures are a heavily edited selection from the dozens I took that day.

I was particularly entranced by the bewitching Rainforest Mantis pictured directly above, and returned several times to admire her. She was guarding a tiny egg case, called an ootheca (see photograph second from base.) It was well camouflaged, and if not for the small label on her enclosure, I doubt I would have spotted it half hidden amongst the leaves of a branch. Incredibly, an ootheca can hold up to 100 eggs.

January Brainstorming

It feels good to be back in the studio after a short break. The only time I ventured in over the Christmas period was to have a thorough clear up, which has certainly made the slightly daunting process of beginning afresh in the New Year go much more smoothly.

Currently the infamous Moth Woman Vigilantes seem to be dominating my sketch book.

Ring out the old, ring in the new...

Digama marmorea Moth Mask, 2009, linocut, hand coloured, 15 x 15 cm
and Cyana mericki Moth Mask, 2009, linocut, hand coloured, 15 x 15 cm

Lately I’ve been preparing selected linocuts from the Moth Masks and Enchanted Hair Ornaments series for Metropolis Gallery in Geelong - a pleasant, relatively relaxing task to undertake as the old year draws to a close.

It’s been a busy year, but with many highlights. Despite the untimely closure of Gallery 101, where I was booked for a solo exhibition in September, I was able to find a superb alternative venue in Chrysalis Gallery. The show, which ran throughout October, was a singularly happy experience.

I was one of the selected artists for the 2010 Print Council of Australia Member Print Commission.  The entire edition of Red Lacewinged Woman, 2010, linocut, hand coloured) has now sold out.

Moth Woman Vigilante #9, 2010, linocut, 15 x15 cm

Participating in Rona Green’s projects is always hugely rewarding. Her 2010 print exchange portfolio Fair and Square, which will be exhibited at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga in April 2011, was no exception. When a project such as this one comes along, it can present artists with a priceless opportunity to push imagery and ideas just that much further. Moth Woman Vigilante #9, made especially for Fair and Square, introduced a new direction for the Moth Masks imagery, which will be developed into a suite and possibly an artist’s book in 2011.

Moth Woman Vigilantes (blocks) 15 x 15 cm

Similarly, The Exquisite Palette at St. Luke Artist Colourmen also encourages experimentation and play. As usual, the participating artists rose to the challenge. This year saw the introduction of the Exquisite Palette Award. With so many outstanding entries, it was a privilege to have my palette Behind the Mask judged Most Exquisite.

Behind the Mask, 2010, Acrylic on wooden palette 
(Photograph by Tim Gresham)

In the coming year I’m particularly looking forward to participating in Freak of Nature, also curated by Rona Green, a print exchange folio and exhibition project involving artists from Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. During September the collected works will be exhibited at Switchback Gallery, Monash University, Gippsland, in conjunction with IMPACT 7, the international printmaking conference at Monash University. The prints will also be exhibited at the King Family Exhibition Space, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA in January 2012.

Metropolis Gallery has invited me for the second year running to exhibit in Contemporary and Collectable, which will open on 9 July 2011.

Two solo shows are scheduled for next year. The first will coincide with my second stint as Artist in Residence at The Art Vault in Mildura throughout June. The second, in September at Woodbine Art in Malmsbury, Victoria, is also one of the Month of Print events connected to IMPACT 7.

Exterior view of my studio building in Melbourne

 (my room is on the top floor, far right)

Much as I look forward to these projects, I’m aiming for a less hectic year than this one has been, with some travel plans and a bit more time out for coffees with friends, balanced, of course, with much quality time in the studio. 

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

One show ends and another begins

LAST DAY, LORD MAYOR'S EXHIBITION

This was snapped on Saturday, December 11, the final day of the Lord Mayor’s Exhibition at Maroondah Art Gallery. Because of work commitments, it was the earliest I could make it there. Printmakers Jazmina Cininas and Marco Luccio won acquisition awards. The Lord Mayor’s Exhibition ran from 11 November - 11 December.

Above, left to right:

Campylotes desgodsini, Moth Mask, 2007, oil pastel, 112 x 76 cm and

Anthela Oressarcha Moth Mask, 2007, oil pastel, 76 x 57 cm


ARTISTS' PARTY AT THE AUSTRALIAN PRINT WORKSHOP

On the evening of the same day the Australian Print Workshop threw an Artist’s Party to thank the artists who had donated work to IMPRESSIONS 2010, the fundraising exhibition that opened on December 3. 

The response at the opening the week before had been overwhelming, beginning with a long queue that started forming over 2 hours before the APW’s doors opened. I was amazed to see that my entire print edition had sold out within the first hour.

A highlight of the party was the one and only appearance of a disparate (and prodigiously talented) band of musicians comprising printmakers and APW staff.

 Pictured above: Lead singer (and APW Manager) Tilly Morris’s spectacular rendition of the Johnny Cash classic Ring of Fire.

Installation view of IMPRESSIONS 2010

 Foreground left: The epitome of cool, artist and APW Band member Graeme Drendel leans nonchalantly on the bar. Far right: artists Brian Pieper and Ruth Johnstone

Centre: artists Michael Fitzgerald and the versatile Adrian Kellett, who was also the APW Band's drummer. Right hand side: Artist Wayne Viney with Roger Butler, Senior Curator of Australian Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Australia, who officially launched the evening’s festivities.

Following his opening address APW Director Anne Virgo announced that a complete set of the exhibiting artists’ APW Artists Proofs (APW A/P 2) has been gifted to the National Gallery of Australia.

The exhibition runs until February 12, 2011.

For full details of IMPRESSIONS 2010, including participating artists and opening hours, scroll down to Blog Post Saturday, November 20.

Young Women with Wings

Alice Li

Georgia Sinclair

Isobel Caldwell

Isobel Caldwell

Jieshu Li

   

Julia Bell

Julienne Soo

Julienne Soo

Maddie Clark

Shervene Tan

Ellen Soust

Recently I received a wonderful surprise in my email inbox. Kate Murray, who teaches Art and Visual Communication at Lauriston Girls' School in Armadale, wrote to tell me that she had taken her Year 8 students to see my exhibition Natural Histories at Chrysalis Gallery . Back at their school the students were invited to create their own interpretations of the Winged Women paintings.

Three of her students’ drawings were attached to Kate’s email. I loved them, and was delighted when Kate offered to send some more examples. These arrived yesterday, and all are now reproduced above.

Acknowledgements (and warm thanks) to Kate Walker and the gifted young artists Alice Li, Ellen Soust, Georgia Sinclair, Isobel Caldwell, Jieshu Li, Julia Bell, Julienne Soo, Maddie Clark and Shervene Tan for giving me permission to publish their work on my blog.