A visit to Melbourne Athenaeum Library

Yesterday’s day trip to Melbourne included a visit to Melbourne Athenaeum Library to stock up on books. Seeing Leaves of Absence, my unbound artist book, on display brought back a slew of happy memories of my stint there in 2018 as artist-in-residence for Melbourne Rare Book Week. 

The library was the first institution to acquire Leaves of Absence for its permanent collection, of which I’m still extremely proud, and they hosted the launch of the book in 2017. 

Melbourne Athenaeum Library is a refuge in the chaotic centre of a city I hardly recognise anymore. I’ve kept up my membership, but having moved to a regional city, I seldom have time to call in. This is something I’ve vowed to rectify. Until yesterday, I hadn’t realised just how much I’ve missed it.

Apologies for the reflections and distortions from the bevelled glass.

BOOKISH Artist Talk at Melbourne Athenaeum Library

Pictured above and below are selected highlights from the artist talk Bronwyn Rees and I gave on Wednesday evening, March 23, in celebration of all things BOOKISH, the Print Council of Australia artist book exhibition at Melbourne Athenaeum Library. Additional photographs are on my Art Blog HERE.

Thanks a million to the library for having us and to each and everyone who came to the talk, including the numerous BOOKISH artists who attended. 

BOOKISH concluded its run on Saturday March 26. In her opening address, the library’s General Manager Sue Westwood (pictured right in the first and last photos above) said she hoped this would be the first of other collaborations with the Print Council of Australia. I certainly echo those sentiments.

Reminder: BOOKISH Artist Talk at Melbourne Athenaeum Library

From the Melbourne Athenaeum Library’s latest newsletter, a gentle reminder of the talk Bronwyn Rees and I are presenting in conjunction with the artist book exhibition, BOOKISH:

ARTIST TALK, THIS WEDNESDAY 23 MARCH AT 6PM

To gain a deeper understanding of the art of artist book making, former artist-in-residence Deborah Klein and printmaker Bronwyn Rees will speak about the art form's rich history and their own practice on Wednesday 23rd March from 6pm. 

It's a free event, but RSVPs are required.  Phone the library on 9650 3100 or email library@melbourneathenaeum.org.au to book your seats.

Bronwyn and Deborah's talk, and the Bookish Exhibition are part of the 8th Melbourne Art Book Fair.  Bookish is an exhibition of contemporary artists' book by members of the Print Council of Australia and is being held in the library from 17 - 26 during normal opening hours.

BOOKISH:  March 17 - 26 in the library

Proudly presented by the Print Council of Australia 

and the Melbourne Athenaeum Incorporated

To illuminate our presentation, Bronwyn and I will bring along some examples of our own book art. In my case, this will include Progeny, 2018, the unique concertina book I made during my residency at the library for Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018 (pictured top).

My artist book, Leaves of Absence, 2017, launched at the library in 2017 and subsequently acquired for its permanent collection, will also be on display. I’m pictured below at the 2017 book launch with Marguerite Brown, Manager, Print Council of Australia, who officially launched the book. (Click on images to enlarge).

The talk will be followed by celebratory drinks. We look forward to seeing you this coming Wednesday evening, 6 - 8 pm. 

For further information about the BOOKISH talk and exhibition, scroll down to Blog Post Friday February 18. 

BOOKISH Exhibition and Artist Talk

From March 17, Melbourne Athenaeum Library will play host to Bookish, an extensive exhibition of contemporary artist books by members of the Print Council of Australia. Among them are my one-of-a-kind book, Cat’s Cradle. 

The library’s collaboration with the Print Council of Australia is part of the 8th Melbourne Art Book Fair at the National Gallery of Victoria. 

From the Melbourne Athenaeum Library website:

As part of Bookish, the library will also host an artist talk with former artist-in-residence Deborah Klein, and printmaker Bronwyn Rees. Deborah and Bronwyn will speak about the art of making artist books on Wednesday 23rd March at 6pm. The event is FREE but RSVPs are required on 96503100 or 

library@melbourneathenaeum.org.au.

The exhibition is open from March 17 - 19 and March 22 - 26 during the library's 

opening hours. 

Melbourne Athenaeum Library 

Level 1

188 Collins Street

Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Australia

Pictured top: Deborah Klein, front and back covers of Cat’s Cradle, 2019, hand-painted and lettered in acrylic on MDF. 

Pictured second: Artist book on PCA invitation: Bridget Hillebrand, Ascent ll, 2020 (detail).

Click on images for enlarged views. 

FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMEN - a progress report

Lino blocks for Frankenstein's Women, 20 x 15 cm (each block)

The blocks for Frankenstein's Women, my forthcoming artist book, are almost ready for the next stage, namely, printing.

For those who have been following the development of this project since it began life at Melbourne Athenaeum Library during a residency for Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018, here is an overview of the work to date. (Click on images to enlarge).

As noted in my last post, the block for the title page of Frankenstein's Women (pictured third from top) was new and hadn't begun to harden. As a result, the surface was very brittle. In what turned out to be an ill-starred combination, my linocut tool, a Speedball with an interchangeable No. 1 cutter, was also new, but far from sharp, causing areas of the lino to crumble away during carving. For many   years, I've found this particular cutter indispensable for producing very fine lines. Sadly, however, the current Speedball cutters are poorly made; they are blunt, rusty and frankly, shouldn't even be on the market.

There is hope for the future, however, thanks to my friend Paul Compton, who recently presented me with a most thoughtful and generous gift - the elegant linocut tool pictured directly below. I've never seen one like it before. According to the accompanying label, it's a 'TRAD SANKKAKUTO Vee Gouge'. Some of the blocks could use some minor tweaking; this tool cuts through them like butter.

Melbourne Athenaeum Library reopens

Melbourne Athenaeum Library has been closed for a couple of months after a section of its ceiling collapsed, requiring substantial repair and conservation work. Against all odds, the damage to books was relatively minimal.

My worktable was set up in the same area for the majority of my term as artist-in-residence in 2018:

Last week, to the delight of its devoted members, Melbourne Athenaeum Library celebrated its reopening with an informal gathering, held directly after the AGM.

It was good to see my artist book, Leaves of Absence, on display. Launched at the library in late 2017, it was acquired for the permanent collection in 2018.

Looking back on 2018

As a former St. Kilda girl who grew up in the shadow of Luna Park, I've come to liken the passing years to roller coaster rides, in other words, a series of highs and lows. I'm happy to report that in 2018, the highs by far outweighed the lows.   

High on the list of personal highlights was my residency in June/July at Melbourne Athenaeum Library for Melbourne Rare Book Week (pictured top). The linocuts I made during the residency will be the basis for Frankenstein's Women, a forthcoming artist book.

During the residency I also made a unique artist book, Progeny, which later in the year was Highly Commended in the Biblio Art Prize at Blarney Books and Art in Port Fairy.  Biblio subsequently traveled to Tacit Galleries in Melbourne.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE, the artist book that was launched at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library in late 2017, was acquired by the library in 2018. The book was part of the group show PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection (see below) and was a finalist in the 2018 Libris Awards.

Early last year LEAVES OF ABSENCE was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Library of Victoria and towards the end of 2018, it was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. The year couldn't have been more perfectly book-ended.

2018 was exceedingly busy, even for me. Every year I vow that this will never happen again, and every year it does - and then some. The constant travelling between Melbourne and Ballarat doesn't exactly help. With the aim to make more time for my own projects and myself in general, from now on, I'm saying "no" more often - and sticking to it. For example, for the first time in several years, Moth Woman Press has reluctantly decided not to participate in the annual Sticky Institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair, an event we very much enjoy. We're feeling sad about this - Moth Woman Press usually does particularly well there - but believe it's ultimately for the Greater Good. I do hope we can return next year. Meanwhile, a selection of MWP publications are currently available at the delightful Playing in the Attic.

The halfway mark for January has already passed. Currently, my primary aim is to further develop Back Stories, a series of paintings that is already well under way. These are thematically linked to the linocuts in Frankenstein's Women, for which I have to design a title page and finalise the text before printing begins in the second half of 2019.

A second artist book is also planned. I'll post updates on this and other projects as they unfold.

Wishing you all a fabulous 2019.

ART AMONG THE BOOKSHELVES

The November edition of the Melbourne Athenaeum Library's journal Shelf Life includes several of their highlights from 2018, including one that was among my own high spots of the year.

In the second week of my term as Artist-in-Residence back in July, I first met the delightful Patricia Cornelius. She is the library's current Playwright-in-Residence. I was gratified that Patricia was particularly drawn to the Moth Woman Vigilantes zines and immediately grasped their subtext. (Incidentally, we'll be hearing a lot more from the MWV in 2019).

In article directly below I am interviewed by Lawana Coulson about my richly rewarding time at the library.

Melbourne Athenaeum Library Residency: Final Day

Pictured above: the view from my work table at The Melbourne Athenaeum Library on Saturday, 14 July, the final day of my residency.

In this post I cast a wistful eye over my former workplace, beginning with a photo of myself and the library's current Playwright-in-Residence, the delightful Patricia Cornelius (photo credit: James Baker) and a series of shelfies featuring accordion books in various stages of development.

Below right: library volunteer Aaron Cook, who kindy helped Shane and I carry the substantial baggage from my residency to our car several blocks away at the top end of the city. (All of the nearby car parks were full).

I'm going to miss going into the library every day. I'll miss the staff, volunteers and the energising conversations I had with a steady stream of visitors, several of whom made return visits. A future post will focus on Progeny, the artist book I made during my residency. In the meantime, I'll think of Melbourne Athenaeum Library every day as I continue with the projects that had their genesis in this very special place.