artist book interference with Caren Florance at Brenda May Gallery

Small Publishers: Brenda May Gallery, Sydney from 17 Feb to 14 March, curated by Akky von Ogtropp. 

Artist Book 'Intention' part of ‘Conflict in History’ Residency

Intention uses a combination of text and image to commemorate the lives of refugees drowned at Christmas Island attempting to reach Australia by boat. As a migrant I have immigrated to Australia twice, the first as a boat arrival aboard the S.S. Strathnaver, and later as an independent adult through a migrant application arriving by air.

There is a foreground image, solvent release, of geometric lines taken from Arabic geometry, skewed and disrupted, that is reminiscent of map projection lines. The background image, of offset intaglio printed etching and relief printed lino does not project any narrative but is intended to convey the emptiness and scale of the ocean. There is a vast loneliness and undifferentiated sameness to open ocean, and in rough weather a profound terror.

The text of Intention, in handwritten pencil, was written as part of my ‘Conflict in History’ Residency for the Australian Historical Association and the University of Queensland’s School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classic and the UQ Art Museum in the second half of 2014. It was published in Thing & Unthing, Angela Gardner, Vagabond Press, Sydney 2014.

Both books 21 x 13.5 x 1.2 closed and 21 x 300 open

etching, linocut, solvent release, pencil on Moleskine Japanese Album

Artist Book Last Flight, part of the 'Conflict in History Residency'

Last Flight uses a combination of text and image to explore the plight of the dispossessed, in particular refugees from Middle-Eastern conflict zones. As a migrant I have immigrated to Australia twice, once as a child ten-pound-Pom, and later as an independent adult through a migrant application. Any complications in my identity due to dual nationality pale into insignificance in relation to the distress of those forced to leave their homes and flee.

The primary sources for the solvent release images are news feeds and the internet, which is how we as Australians become informed about this conflict. It should be noted, in a blurring of boundaries, that some of the images are from war games and aerial survey maps of Australian suburbs.

The explanatory text on the meaning of the word conflict has been put through an optical character recognition software and translated between pdf and word files. The process has garbled the meaning and changed the image to text, addressing central and ongoing themes in my work of the stability of identity and meaning, between text and image. The images have been over-printed with offset intaglio printed etching.

The text of Last Flight, in handwritten pencil, was written as part of my ‘Conflict in History’ Residency for the Australian Historical Association and the University of Queensland’s School of History, Philosophy, Religion and Classic and the UQ Art Museum in the second half of 2014. It was published in Thing & Unthing, Angela Gardner, Vagabond Press, Sydney 2014.