SELF-MADE at Latrobe Regional Gallery

The Moth Woman Vigilantes, 2011, zine, edition of 80. Collection:
State Library of Victoria. Photo credit: Paul Compton.

Pictured above: our limited edition zine, The Moth Woman Vigilantes, spotted by Paul Compton at Latrobe Regional Gallery in SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS, a touring exhibition from the State Library of Victoria.

The exhibition is ‘... presented by State Library Victoria in partnership with Sticky Institute, and supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and the Visions regional touring program, an Australian Government program aiming to improve access to cultural material for all Australians’. 
- From the Latrobe Regional Gallery website.

SELF MADE opened on 10 August and runs to 10 November 2019
https://latroberegionalgallery.com/project/7223/

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.

SELF-MADE floor talk at the State Library of Victoria

For some weeks it has been all go at Moth Woman Press as we simultaneously prepare for an artist book launch and a sizeable solo show that are only five days apart. (Full details of both events will be provided soon).

So it was a welcome treat take some time out on Thursday November 9 to attend a Print Council of Australia Special Event: a Curator's floor talk on the exhibition, Self-made: zines and artist books at State Library of Victoria. 

Self-made curator Monica Syrette (far right) speaks about the
history of zines and artist books to a captivated audience.
 In the centre are Andrew Stephens, Editor of the PCA
journal, IMPRINT, and Sharon Okines, PCA Membership Manager.

Two Moth Woman Press zines, The Moth Woman Vigilantes and Tattooed Faces, are included in the show - although the first time I visited some months back, the latter zine was nowhere to be found. Shortly afterwards, Monica Syrette, guest curator of Self-made, informed me that it had been stolen. At a RRP of $4.00, this was hardly a top end of the market art heist, but a compliment of sorts, I guess! Monica subsequently acquired a replacement copy at the Tonerpalooza Zine Fair (see previous post) and it has remained ensconced in the reading racks ever since. That's it on the top shelf, far right, in the photo below.

The exhibition finishes its run tomorrow, Sunday November 12, but will soon begin an extensive tour. 

TONERPALOOZA II ZINE FAIR

The Moth Woman Press stall at TONERPALOOZA II. Photo credit: Shane Jones

It was terrific seeing so many familiar faces among visitors and stall holders alike on day two of the splendid TONERPALOOZA II zine fair, which ran over the past weekend (see previous two posts and Blog Post September 8). We met some lovely people and, thanks to our hosts with the mostest, Sticky Institute and the State Library of Victoria, it all ran like clockwork and we had a ball. Thanks also to Shane Jones for invaluable zine stall assistance.

L - R: Miranda Costa and myself. Photo credit: Shane Jones

Photo credit: Shane Jones

My able assistant, Shane Jones, with TONERPALOOZA II participant, Miranda Costa

Fellow zinesters Gracia and Louise (left) and Miranda Costa (fair right)

Shane Jones

Having Shane to cover for me meant I could periodically stretch my legs, as well as check out the other zine stalls - and very fine they were.

Food is forbidden in the library (quite rightly) so I ate my packed lunch outside the library entrance in the company of a pigeon and a duck which had clearly lost its way (see directly below).

Pictured below and immediately following: Sticky Institute's stall.

Centre: Sticky Institute coordinator, Luke Sinclair

A gentle reminder, gentle reader

Before I pack them away in readiness for tomorrow's stint at TONERPALOOZA II ZINE FAIR, here is an inside view of each of the three mini-zines I'll be unveiling on day two of this auspicious event. (Click on image to enlarge).

As mentioned in our previous post, Her own Society, Alabaster Chambers and Who are You? take partial inspiration from the poetry of Emily Dickinson and they each include one of her poems. The zines are signed and numbered limited editions of 100.

Co-hosted by Sticky Institute and the State Library of Victoria, TONERPALOOZA II, which showcases zines from over 100 stall holders evenly divided between the two days, is situated in the Cowen Gallery, State Library of Victoria and will run from Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 September between 10 am - 4 pm.

I'll be there tomorrow with a plethora of Moth Woman Press publications old and new and hope to see you there too.

Three zines for TONERPALOOZA II

Previewed below are a trio of mini-zines I'll be launching this coming Sunday at TONERPALOOZA II ZINE FAIR at the State Library of Victoria. (See also Blog Post, Friday, September 8).

Curated by Sticky Institute to correspond with the current show, SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS, the event will be held in the Cowen Gallery, State Library of Victoria, on Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 September from 10 am - 4 pm. We'll be there with our brand new zines - and a goodly selection of earlier Moth Woman Press zines besides - on Sunday 24th.

Pictured from top: Her own Society, Who are You? and Alabaster Chambers. Inspired in part by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, each zine incorporates one of her poems. To see inside, come along to the zine fair on Sunday. 

For the benefit of those who can't make it, I'll be posting some inside views in the very near future.

All three zines are signed, numbered and limited to an edition of 100. 

TONERPALOOZA ll ZINE FAIR

Poster by Rachel Ang

Moth Woman Press is delighted to have been invited to participate in the forthcoming Tonerpalooza II Zine Fair at the Cowen Gallery in the State Library of Victoria. The event will take place on Saturday 23 - Sunday 24 September from 10 - 4 pm. Moth Woman Press will be there on Sunday the 24th.

Tonerpalooza is coordinated by Sticky Institute to coincide with the current exhibition at the State Library of Victoria: SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS (see previous post).

To mark the occasion, I decided to make a new mini-zine, the front cover of which is reproduced below. I've been enjoying the process so much that two other zines are also under way. The drawings I made during a recent residency at the Art Vault in Mildura are the basis for the illustrations in all three. Further details will be revealed in future posts.

SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS

Pictured above and below: the reading room section of SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS at the State Library Victoria. Among the zines on display is the Moth Woman Press publication, Moth Woman Vigilantes (2011).

The exhibition, which runs until 12 November, will travel to a number of regional and interstate galleries in 2018 and 2019. 

Curated by Monica Syrette and developed in partnership with Sticky Institute, SELF-MADE  displays rarely seen material from the Library’s extensive collection of artist books and zines, the largest in Australia.

SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS

Dashing around central Melbourne in between Melbourne International Film Festival venues, I happened upon this poster (x2) for SELF-MADE: ZINES AND ARTIST BOOKS, a free exhibition at the State Library of Victoria. It opened yesterday, 11 August, and runs until 12 November. Two Moth Woman Press zines, Tattooed Faces and Moth Woman Vigilantes, are part of the show, which was curated by Monica Syrette. I haven't had a chance to see it yet because of back-to-back MIFF movies (I'm seeing 55 films over 16 days - I just did a count) but look forward to dropping by next week on a day of less solidly booked screenings. 

A link to the exhibition and related events is HERE.