FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMEN - frontispiece in progress

As promised, here is the recently completed block for the frontispiece to our imminent artist book, Frankenstein’s Women, followed by a series of earlier views that chart its progress.

The lino is considerably newer than the block on which the cover art was carved (see previous post). That had had time to harden a little and was far less inclined to crumble during carving. By comparison, this lino was far too soft and the areas that involved fine cutting, particularly the two lines of text at the base of the image, were inclined to chip away.

A handful of Frankenstein’s Women will be selectively hand-coloured in red - for example, the decorative comb and droplet on the necklace featured in the cover art and the earrings and upper text in this work.

The ten linocuts that make up the suite will be paired with texts by my ‘collaborator’ Mary Shelley, all of them chosen from her gothic novel, Frankenstein, first published on 1 January 1818 and every bit as relevant today.

Cover art for FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMEN

During the past week I've been working on the final two lino blocks for Frankenstein's Women, an artist book that has been under development since last year. The project, which focuses on the women in Mary Shelley's gothic novel, Frankenstein, had its genesis during a residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library for Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018.

Directly below are a series of progress views of the cover art, followed by two details of the work. Cutting the lettering was a particular challenge.

Selected progress views of the block for the frontispiece to Frankenstein's Women will be published in our next post.

Frankenstein's Women: title page and cover art

My dreams were all my own; I accounted for them to nobody; they were my refuge when annoyed — my dearest pleasure when free.

(Mary Shelley’s introduction to Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, 1831).

Pictured above are progress views of the blocks for the title page and cover image of Frankenstein’s Women, a forthcoming artist book focusing on the peripheral female characters in Shelley’s enduringly influential gothic novel. 

The project began last July when I undertook a residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library as part of Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018.

With the end of the project firmly in sight, I’ve been feeling a little like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Looking Glass Land as I add text to the lino in mirror writing. (Click on images to enlarge).

The Monster's Bride

Progress view 1: The Bride linoleum block in late 2018

Featured in this post are selected progress views of The Bride, the eighth of eight 'non-portrait' linocuts created for Frankenstein's Women, an artist book based on the peripheral female characters in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. I developed the series during 2018, the 200th anniversary of its publication, predominantly during a residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library. (See previous post).

In recent weeks, the project was put to one side as I turned my focus to a new body of paintings. The temporary pause gave me time to rethink part of the drawing and introduce a crucial element, namely, a ribbon choker. In the finished work, this will be red, a colour associated with the French Revolution. Red was also the colour of chokers worn by women who had narrowly escaped the guillotine, as well as a mark of sympathy for its victims. Mary Shelley and her husband Percy closely studied every aspect of the revolution and there are several references to it in Frankenstein. 

In Shelley's novel, at the behest of his 'monster,' Frankenstein creates a bride, but, at the very point of bestowing life, destroys her. Like the downtrodden French revolutionaries, Shelley's monster demonstrates the dehumanising effects of ill-treatment and neglect.

For further reading, visit my Art Blog HERE.

Progress view 2

Progress view 3, with cutting completed and repositioned choker

Work on the title page has begun and the design for the colophon is also in development.

Frankenstein's Women will be exhibited in a solo show at HipCat Printery Gallery, opening on 12 October, 2019.

Biblio Art Prize: Opening Night

Pictured above and below are some snaps of the lively opening of the 10th Annual Biblio Art Prize at Blarney Books and Art on Saturday, November 3. There are some remarkable works in the show, and we enjoyed chatting to several of the makers, including Carmel Wallace and Mel Kerr (seen directly below with her terrific Edgar Allan Poe-inspired work). Congratulations to Biblio Prize winner, Mandy Gunn. (Her work Pillars of Wisdom  is displayed on the table, centre, in the second photo below).

I have two works in the show, an archival pigment print inspired by Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, (see top photo) and was Highly Commended for Progeny, my hand-drawn, stitched and lettered artist book inspired by Mary Shelley’s immortal Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus. As someone who failed sewing in high school, I’m thrilled with the way Progeny is displayed. Strategically directed lighting causes the stitches/sutures, to cast short, sharp shadows, throwing the blood-red threads into low-relief.

For more about Progeny, visit Deborah Klein's Art Blog HERE.

Many thanks to Biblio judges Justine Hyde, Director, Library Services, State Library of Victoria, Vanessa Gerrans, Director, Warrnambool Art Gallery and the indefatigable Jo and Dean of Blarney Books and Art.

Click on images for a clearer view.

FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMEN, an artist book in the making

Pictured below: selected progress views of the fifth of eight linocuts for the forthcoming artist book Frankenstein’s Women, in this bicentennial year of its primary point of reference, Mary Shelley’s groundbreaking novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.

For progress views of the sixth linocut in the series, visit my Art Blog HERE.

The 10th Annual Biblio Art Prize

In recent news, two of my works are finalists in the Biblio Art Prize 2018.

Once essentially an altered book competition, its parameters have expanded to include a wide range of media, with the only proviso that the completed work references a specific book of the artist’s choice.

Progeny, 2018, one-of-a-kind artist book (detail), pigmented drawing ink,
gouache and hand stitching with cloth binding, 16.5 x 91 cm (open)

The first of my shortlisted works is Progeny, a one-of-a kind artist book made during my recent term as artist-in-residence at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library during Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018 (see also Blog Post Sunday, July 15).

Its point of departure is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, which also celebrates a significant anniversary this year - the 200th anniversary of its publication. The artist book's title originates from an extract from Shelley's introduction to the second edition of Frankenstein: "And now, once again, I bid my hideous progeny go forth and prosper”.

Bell Jar, 2018, archival pigment print, 42.5 x 32 cm,
edition no. 1/10

My second shortlisted work is Bell Jar, an archival pigment print inspired by the eponymous semi-autobiographical novel by Sylvia Plath.

‘I thought the most beautiful thing in the world must be shadow, the million moving shapes and cul-de-sacs of shadow. There was shadow in bureau drawers and closets and suitcases, and shadow under houses and trees and stones, and shadow at the back of people's eyes and smiles, and shadow, miles and miles and miles of it, on the night side of the earth’.

― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)

The exhibition runs from 3 November - 2 December. 

Biblio Art Prize 2018

Blarney Books and Art

37 James Street,

Port Fairy

Victoria

In celebration of the competition's tenth anniversary, the show will travel to Tacit Galleries in Collingwood, where it will be on view from 5 - 16 December 2018. 

All 2018 entry fees for the Biblio Art Prize will be donated to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.