Tall Poppies in Canberra

Tall Poppies (2013, unique artist book. Pigmented drawing ink
on Khadi paper with cloth binding, 80 x 15 cm, open). 
Collection: National Library of Australia

Pictured top: installation view of Tall Poppies (2013) our vertical concertina book, snapped yesterday at the National Library of Australia along with reflected library visitors. Click on images for a clearer view.

Many thanks to Dr. Carole Wilson for the photos.

Artist-in-Residence at Melbourne Athenaeum Library

My residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library for Melbourne Rare Book Week is up and running. I'll be in again tomorrow, Monday, July 2 from 10 am - 5 pm and every day until my term ends, all too briefly, on Saturday, July 7. (For opening times, scroll down to my last post).

If you're in the area, do drop in. The infernal building works that have taken over half of central Melbourne, rendering much of it all but unrecognisable, will feel like a world away.

The Lady in the Tower and other Tall Tales

Pictured above L - R: vertical accordion artist books A Tall Tale, Castles in the Hair and Bats in the Belfry, each 2013, pigmented drawing ink on Khadi paper, cloth bound. All three will be exhibited at Melbourne Athenaeum Library during Melbourne Rare Book Week, in keeping with this year’s focus on gothic fiction.

The literary classification of The Lady in the Tower has a special niche in gothic storytelling. The principal point of departure for Bats in the Belfry is the peripheral but pivotal character Bertha Mason, the madwoman in the attic in Charlotte Bronte's gothic novel Jane Eyre (1847). The same character is the protagonist of the Jean Rhys novel, Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) in which Bertha’s original name is revealed to be Antoinette Cosway and the story told from her point of view.

As artist-in-residence at Melbourne Athenaeum Library, I’ll be developing new projects centring on female characters (and in one case, a character who never quite was) from the gothic novels Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley and Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Brontë.

Residency dates: 30 June - 7 July

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

Queenscliff Literary Festival 2017

Vertical concertina books, 2013, one-of-a-kind, ink
and acrylic on Khadi paper, cloth bound.
Each book: 20 x 15 cm (open)

The artist's books pictured above are currently on view at Queenscliff Gallery and Workshop in the exhibition, Queenscliffe Literary Festival & Great Authors Print Exchange. The show is part of the 2017 Queenscliffe Literary Festival.

The books relate to the literary classification of 'The Maiden in the Tower'. The primary point of reference for A Tall Tale and Castles in the Hair is the German fairy tale, Rapunzel, famously collected by the brothers Grimm and first published by them in 1812. The story has its basis in earlier tales dating back as far as the 11th century. 

The third book, Bats in the Belfry, draws its primary inspiration from the character Bertha Mason, the madwoman in the attic in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. The same character is the protagonist of the Jean Rhys novel, Wide Sargasso Sea, in which Bertha's real name is revealed to be Antoinette Cosway and much of the story told from her point of view.

The Queenscliffe Literary Festival & Great Authors Print Exchange runs from 3 May - June 12. For full details, visit QG&W's website HERE.