Homo-insecta: An unnatural history portfolio

The unbound artist book Homo-insecta: An unnatural history portfolio (2013, hand coloured linocuts with text, ed: 10) was originally created for the group show Wonder Room, a contemporary take on the Wunderkammer, at Maroondah Art Gallery back in 2013

From 30 June - 7 July the book will be exhibited at Melbourne Athenaeum Library during my residency for Melbourne Rare Book Week.

It's no coincidence that the re-emergence of Homo-insecta: An unnatural history portfolio corresponds with the bicentenary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This significant anniversary is commemorated on a grand scale in My Monster at RMIT Gallery (29 June - 18 August). Three of my 'unnatural history' watercolours are part of that show. A plethora of rare Homo-insecta specimens can also be viewed in PATTERNS OF COLLECTING: From the Bower at The Johnston Collection, current until 18 September.

I’ll be setting up the exhibition at Melbourne Athenaeum Library next Friday, 29 June. My residency commences the following day, Saturday, 30 June and concludes on Saturday, July 7. If you're planning to sample some of the many delights of Melbourne Rare Book Week, do drop in and say hello.

Library hours: 
Saturday: 10 am - 2 pm
Monday, Tuesday & Thursday: 10 am - 6 pm
Wednesday: 10 am - 8 pm
Friday: 10 am - 4 pm

Artist talk: Wednesday, 4 July  6 -7 pm

PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection: Opening Night

Pictured with two of my favourite people, Leigh Hobbs and Paul Compton

Now in its second year, but in a different iteration and with its title appropriately adjusted, PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at The Johnston Collection was officially launched last night. Thank you so much to all who came, to TJC Director/Curator Louis Le Vaillant and his wonderful team and to Alison Inglis for her marvellous opening address.

L - R Bower artists Louise Saxton, Carole Wilson, myself,
and Loris Button with Opening Speaker Alison Inglis

Like fellow Bower artists Carole Wilson and Loris Button, I've made new work for the show, and additional items from our private collections have also been introduced. Numerous artworks and collection items from earlier versions of the show remain, however, including my artist book Leaves of Absence, now on display upstairs in the Natural History Room.

The exhibition runs until 18 September. Full  details are below. Click on the image for a clearer view.

RESIDENCY AT MELBOURNE ATHENAEUM LIBRARY

As visitors to this blog are already well aware, from Saturday 30 June – Saturday 7 July I’ll be based at Melbourne Athenaeum Library as their artist-in-residence for Melbourne Rare Book Week. It’s one of my favourite places in Melbourne, so needless to add, I’m very much looking forward to it. 

On Wednesday 4 July from 6 – 7 pm I’m giving an informal artist’s talk at the library. It's an intimate venue with limited seating, so bookings are essential. For full details and to book for the talk, click on the following link and scroll down: 
https://mailchi.mp/2ab6a9521e30/5uekx6ghkm-2903437

Looming Deadlines

On this, another wet, wintry Ballarat morning, I soak up the vista from my work table: another table with another pile of work with another hovering deadline. 

Above, foreground: ink drawings on linoleum blocks, preparatory work for my forthcoming residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library, beginning late June. 

On the second work table (most of it not visible in this view): artwork and related paraphernalia for PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection, opening June 4. (The framed insect collection on the far wall will shortly be packed up for the same show).

Below: A lino block for the AIR, drawn up and ready to go.

Work in Progress for library residency

Another linoleum block drawn up in readiness for my forthcoming stint as artist-in-residence at marvellous Melbourne Athenaeum Library. 

Scroll down to our last two posts for additional information.

Frankenstein's Women - a progress view

Pictured above: an ink and acrylic drawing on linoleum, 20 x 15 cm, another preparatory work for my forthcoming artist residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library,  part of Melbourne Rare Book Week. (For further information, see previous post).

The completed linocut will form part of an artist book focusing on the female characters in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which celebrates its two-hundredth anniversary this year. 

Preparations for Melbourne Athenaeum Library Residency

Work in progress, pigmented drawing ink and gesso on lino block, 20 x 15 cm

Pictured above: a lino block drawn up and ready for carving, the first of several planned for two artist’s books influenced by female characters in the Gothic Novel - in particular, Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Both of these hugely influential works have bicentennials in 2018 (it’s the 200th anniversary of Brontë’s birth and the publication of  Shelley’s novel).

The linocuts will be developed during my residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library from 21 June, in conjunction with Melbourne Rare Book Week, which runs from 29 June - 8 July.

Full details of both events will be posted nearer the time.

MWP at Playing in the Attic

In some happy post-Easter news, a goodly selection of Moth Woman Press publications - postcards, zines and perennial favourite, There was once ... our anthology of fairy tales with a feminist twist, are now available at Playing in the Attic, a marvellous mini-emporium of papery delights. 

Playing in the Attic is centrally located in Sturt Street, one of Ballarat's finest thoroughfares. Its next door neighbour is renowned second hand book seller, Minerva's Bookshop; both are at the entrance to the historic Ballarat Mechanic's Institute library, making the site a veritable mecca for bibliophiles

Playing in the Attic
119a Sturt Street
Ballarat (VIC) 3350

Phone: 0428 580 309
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm

Playing in the Attic's Instagram page is here:
https://www.instagram.com/playing_in_the_attic/?hl=en

Its Facebook page is here:
https://m.facebook.com/playingintheattic119a/

LEAVES OF ABSENCE: 2018 Libris Awards Finalist

With the onset of the Easter break comes some terrific news: my artist book Leaves of Absence is a finalist in the 2018 Libris Awards: Australian Artists’ Book Prize at Artspace Mackay. It’s the first time I’ve entered a work in this esteemed artist books award, and I’m absolutely chuffed.

The exhibition runs from Saturday 26 May - Sunday 29 August. To learn more about the award and for a full list of this year's finalists, visit Artspace Mackay's website HERE.

RAW at Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018

A personal highlight of yesterday, Day 1 of Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 at NGV International, was taking part in the panel discussion, Regional Arts Words (RAW), hosted by Regional Arts Australia. I’m on the far right, pictured with (L - R) Mary Jane Warfield, Manager, Regional Arts Fund/Regional Arts Australia, and fellow panelists, photographer Angela Rivas and writer Lindy Schneider. Our books are available from the Regional Arts Australia stand throughout the weekend. Photo credit for images 1 and 2: Shane Jones.

Moth Woman Press on the move

A copy of Leaves of Absence (2017), our unbound artist book, has just been reserved by the State Library of Victoria. The book is pictured below in our Abbotsford study. Shortly thereafter it was packaged up in readiness for delivery to the library, where it was placed in the capable hands of Des Cowley, History of the Book Manager/Collection Development and Discovery.

Meanwhile, as previously announced, next Friday, 16 March, between 2.30 - 3.15 pm, I'm participating in Regional Arts Words (RAW), a panel discussion hosted by Regional Arts Australia at Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018. My contribution will include a show and tell of Leaves of Absence, a project that sprung unexpectedly to life during a walk in Newstead Forest in the Victorian goldfields. 

As I write, the presses are rolling for Fallen Women, the little book we've made especially for the book fair. Early this week we okayed the final proofs and mockup (pictured below). Fallen Women contains a selection of works that were made subsequent to Leaves of Absence, preceded by a short fairy tale. Although it's a stand alone publication, Fallen Women is the key that unlocks the secret of the mysterious Shadow Women in Leaves of Absence. The book will be available from the Regional Arts Australia stand and I'll have some extra copies with me at the RAW talk.

RAW will be the sole voice of Australian regional arts at the book fair, so do come along if you can.

For full details of RAW and Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018, scroll down to our last post.

In further news, the State Library of Victoria/Sticky Institute show Self-made: Zines and Artist Books continues its run, opening today, 9 March, at Bunjil Place. Included in the exhibition are Moth Woman Press zines Tattooed Faces and Moth Woman Vigilantes. Self-made runs until 29 April. For full details, go HERE.

An installation view is directly below. Photo credit: Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison.

FALLEN WOMEN, a new book for Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018

As reported in our previous post, Regional Arts Australia have invited me to participate in Regional Arts Words (RAW), a panel discussion they are hosting during Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018. 

To mark the occasion, a new book, Fallen Women, is currently in the making. Its front cover is previewed above. 

Fallen Women will be available at the Regional Arts Australia stand throughout the book fair. Full details of the publication will be provided shortly.

Regional Arts Words (RAW)

The Great Hall 

NGV International 

Friday 16 March 2.30 - 3.15 pm

Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 runs from Friday 16 March - Sunday 18 March.

MELBOURNE ART BOOK FAIR 2018

Leaves of Absence, artist book, 2017
 31 archival pigment prints in Solander box 32.5 (H) x 25.5 (W) x 4 cm (D)
Edition: 10 & one artist proof

The annual Melbourne Art Book Fair at the National Gallery of Victoria is nearly upon us. 

As part of their participation in Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018, Regional Arts Australia are hosting a panel discussion with three artists who work in regional Australia. It will take place on Friday 16 March from 2.30 - 3.15 pm. 

I’m delighted to have been invited to sit on the panel, which will discuss artistic practice, publications and the benefits and challenges of working regionally.

The panel will be facilitated by Mary Jane Warfield, Regional Arts Fund Manager/Regional Arts Australia. My fellow speakers are Lindy Schneider and Angela Rivas. 

Among the publications on display will be Leaves of Absence, (2017), the first of my artist books to draw its subject matter entirely from my regional base in the Victorian Goldfields.

For complete details, go HERE.

The Facebook event page is HERE. 

To view the full program, go HERE.

Melbourne Art Book Fair 2018 runs from Friday 16 March - Sunday 18 March.

Fallen Women

Leaf-by-leaf views of Fallen Women, a sixteen page zine created for last Sunday's superlative Sticky Institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair (see previous three posts).

In Fallen Women, the secret of the ghostly Shadow Women of Newstead Forest is at least revealed. The zine is a signed and numbered limited edition of 100 and retails for $6.00.