Floor talk at Warrnambool Gallery

L-R far distance in front of our combined collections wall:
WAG Curator of Collections, Agostina Hawkins, Carole Wilson,
Loris Button and myself

Last Saturday, May 13, Loris Button, Carole Wilson and I returned to Warrnambool Art Gallery to present a floor talk about our current exhibition, From the bower - patterns of collecting. (Louise Saxton, the fourth member of our group, was unable to join us).

I focused on several of my collection objects and related artworks, including the stories behind them: the sewing iconography in the linocut Tattooed Faces Sampler, the hair ornaments collection that became the point of departure for numerous artworks and later the MWP zine The Little Black Hair Book, and the hand painted eucalyptus leaves that were the basis for the illustrations in my unbound artist book, Leaves of Absence.

We had a brilliant turnout, and valued the generous feedback we received from audience members after the talk.

Selected highlights are directly below. Photographs are by Shane Jones. For further views of the talk, visit my art blog HERE.

The exhibition runs until June 12.

Standing L-R: Carole Wilson, Loris Button and myself

Directly below:
Carole Wilson and I viewed through a glass case containing my unbound artist book, Leaves of Absence, together with a variety of objects from the artists' personal collections.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE in Warrnambool and Perth

Pictured here are installation views of my artist book, Leaves of Absence (2017) in From the Bower - patterns of collecting at Warrnambool Art Gallery.

Selected page views of the book are paired with the original artwork - hand painted Eucalyptus leaves - and the antique flower presses in which the leaves were pressed and dried. The exhibition also features the works and private collections of Carole Wilson, Loris Button and Louise Saxton, some of which can be glimpsed in these photos. It opened yesterday, 18 March, and runs until 12 June.

From the Bower can also be seen at the Art Gallery of Ballarat from 29 July - 17 September.

Coincidentally, Leaves of Absence is part of another show that also opened yesterday: Between the Sheets: Artists' Books 2017. An international artists’ book exhibition, it is presented by Gallery East in conjunction with Gallery Central, Aberdeen Street, Perth, Western Australia, and runs until 8 April.

Between the Sheets will also be shown at Australian Galleries, Melbourne, from 13 June - 2 July. 

Dates for the Melbourne launch of Leaves of Absence TBA.