'all the....'

At the risk of boring folk who connect with my bits on multiple platforms
I thought I'd share with you a recently completed project
(I've already shared many of these pics and info on insta and farcebook)



here is the first booklet from the 'all the....' series
based on work from the LookUP project

'all the sixteenths...' 

(all finished)

here's where things began...

like many of my book projects --- this project started with teeny tiny scrap paper models....

it took a few scrappy bits until I hit upon the form that I thought might work

   its a variation of a pocket concertina

then slowly

 I move from tiny models to larger more detailed versions.... 

folding folding

thinking thinking

changing

 measuring

refining

trialing paper choices

much more careful folding ...

 

then slowly the final form emerged....

'all the sixteenths' from the LookUP project

 concertina booklet with pockets and paper covers 

folded from Magnani Vergata Avorio 145gsm laid paper

contains 12 offset print picture/poems/postcards from the LookUP series

 from the 16th day of each month in 2015

The postcards slide in and out of their little pockets 

that reveal the picture on each while hiding the poem

The pocket concertina form encourages the viewer to remove the picture/poem/postcard,

to contemplate the image/words

and to reorder the postcards in the pockets
 

so they form new narratives

a paper band holds the concertina closed and also acts as the title of the work


'all the sixteenths...'
is the first in a series of 'all the...'
folded concertina books for the LookUP project


mind you -- you may need to wait to see some more:
it takes

F....O... R ... E ...V ... E ... R

to fold each one of these!

codex infinitum - the infinite book...

my solo exhibition - codex infinitum 

opened October 10 at Switchback Gallery...

 

the gallery entrance is now guarded by my book pillars 

 

Pulvis et umbra sumus - 'we are dust and shadow'

 

inside the gallery...

 there are large and small photographic prints,
 

a large book structure and a small handmade book

on the middle partition is my large print...

  Ancora Imparo - 'I am still learning'

which is also the name given to the installation

recreated in the middle of the gallery...

 

 

the installation contains the looooooong coptic bound book

codex inperfecto - the unfinished book

 

 

 behind the middle partition

 hidden from initial view...  

 

 

is the large 

 

(and beautiully lit)

 

 

 

  nec tamen consumebatur - 'and yet it was not consumed'

 

 

also in this space are three works from 2010 that long term blog readers

will already be familiar with... 

 

Novus libri scientia - The New Books of Knowledge  

   

Flammeus libri ardor - The fiery passion of the book 

and

 genius loci

as well as a small coptic bound book  

 

carpe diem

 

 

 

I'll share more of what's inside this small book 

and some more of the individual works in the show

*next time*

 

 

 

so with a last look over my shoulder -- it's on its own.... 

 

 

codex infinitum - the infinite book

 

October 10 - November 7,  2013

Switchback Gallery, Churchill Victoria 

...

psssst....

did anyone notice that I recently added a new page of my 'artwork' here on the blog?

the new embedded slideshow makes it easier for me to add new works at any time
and at the same time its just a wee bit harder for wanna-be piccie pinchers
 ....

 

(but trying to gather all the pics of my artwork into one place is like herding cats...

and I'm sure I've left a moggie or two behind somewhere...

ahh well...)

....

another zine (in between)...

I've been so tied up with writing writing writing (ugh ugh ugh)

I clean forgot to share the little zine I made from my art-in-res stint in Byron Bay


'Book Passions'

 front

inside

 lift the page for another interior double spread

 back

the little zine is archival inkjet
on 160gsm recycled paper

very limited edition of just 20

 it's A4 - folded to 10 x 10.5cm

and comes in a DL envelope (100% recycled paper)

This is the second in a small series of related zines 

'Book Passions' features ephemeral bookworks and pics from my stint
as artist-in-residence for Byron Bay Writers Festival 2011
along with another pithy booky quote

ps I don't have an online 'shop' or anything so I'll need to mention the practicalities here

All the very limited edition little zines are $4.50 ea plus postage

(they are a standard letter size)
drop me a line to organise the high finances!

....

in the bag...

Packing for tomorrow's journey

 in my suitcase I have a collection of small zines

created over the past few days

including a teeny concertina showcasing some of my favourite ephemeral book artworks

 front

 

 open

archival inkjet on goatskin parchment paper

folded 10.5 x 7 cm - open 10.5 x 42 cm

I've printed only 10 of these on the delightful goatskin parchment paper

(I WILL print more of these in the future - but on something else)

so it's going to be a case of 'first in gets the goatskin'

(now I REALLY have to go pack something other than arty/booky things.... 

like clothes maybe??)

...

found...

Yesterday I headed up the hill behind me - to set up more 'stuff' in another of my ongoing  collaborations with nature....

on the way back I stumbled over some past pieces.... now coming along very nicely indeedy...

 

 

book pages disappearing in the paddock....

 

(I shared another soon-to-be ex-book on tumblr)

...

beginnings (part three)

My arty beginnings
part one
part two


and now part three...


May 2006, with our 15-month-old girlie EJ on my hip and our preschool-aged Sass running around madly (as only a preschooler can), my second solo exhibition - 'Forty Weeks' - opened at Spiral Gallery in Bega...

'Forty Weeks' was in essence and actuality a celebration of pregnancy and motherhood (heck, that's what had been occupying my body, mind and spirit over the previous 4+ years!), as I embraced my inner earth-mother and domestic goddess....

and discovered TEXTILES!

'Ovum'

mixed media (with buttons) on canvas

'Spermatozoa'

mixed media (with buttons) on canvas

As well as being a celebration of motherhood, 'Forty weeks' also dealt with my bodily immersion in the ethical, moral and practical problems that go with the territory of pregnancy, childbirth and mothering..... as an older first-time mother, I came face-to-face with the pressure to undergo invasive testing: my vague ideas about abortion, fetal v/s maternal rights, IVF, breastfeeding,  et al. were no longer distanced theoretical dilemmas -they were real issues to be dealt with on a personal level..... so a significant selection of work in the exhibition gave space to these ideas .....

'RU486'

quilted and beaded stretched satin

(honorable mention - 'in the beginning' religious art award)

'When'

12 panels - quilted and beaded stretched satin

(click for larger view)

'love' from the 'wishes and dreams' series

stumpwork embroidery and collage

'Forty weeks' marked a significant shift in my practice. Prior to my pregnancies I had given little thought to what artists materials (in particular paint) was made from let alone consider the manufacturing..... (I admit it - I was an ignoramous) but in the first stages of my second pregnancy I happened to read the label on the tube of cadmium red oil paint I was about to squeeze out..... 

EEEEEK!!!!!!

"heavy metal"....."may cause birth defects".....

WTF!!!!!!!

Never had there been a better time for a solid rethink about materials in my arts practice, and as such most of my familiar methods and materials (whether containing toxic materials, unethical manufacturing, environmental degradation etc etc) were banished..... (I'm still on the journey of how to reconcile my arty and creative impulses with my health and environmental concerns) Needless to say - the changes in my practice mirrored the radical overhaul of my life that only 2 squirmly little miracles can render!

  'you are'
mixed media concertina booklet

2005

also exhibited at red/read book arts exhibition - Artisan Books

'Forty Weeks' was a physically and emotionally exhausting creative journey.....  it represented over 2 years non-stop work (and I do mean non-stop...... only 3 hours before EJ was born I was still working on my bits..... I went back to studio work 2 days after her birth....). 

As the show ended, I thought NOW...

NOW... I can rest for a bit....





but no.... for unbeknown to me,  just around the corner a monster was lying in wait.....

(to be continued)

***more images from '40 weeks' and lots of my past calligraphic works are on a gallery hosted by the ever generous cecilia - at cecilia-letteringart***

....