Natural environment inspired collection, WAYMARKERS solo exhibition

 

This collection of artist's books was exhibited as part of my solo exhibition 

WAYMARKERS ~ Into the Unknown.

Please visit my earlier post to view a tour of the full exhibition.

Kawakawa

Monoprint on sumi-e paper, hand-cut. 

The simplicity and natural beauty of this piece shone out to many visitors to my exhibition and it was the first piece to sell within minutes of the doors opening. I could have sold it many times over.

It was created by monoprinting directly from pressed foliage on my etching press. The changing shadows and the gentle fluttering of the paper added to it's intrigue and appeal.

Where Shall We Go Today?

Repurposed board book, hand-printed papers, found ephemera, stitching, ribbon.

The title and theme for this book evolved when I was given a folder of old maps and brochures, dating from the travels in the 1950s, of a deceased family member.

Visit an earlier post to view HERE 

to view my behind-the-scenes process of making these upcycled board books.

SOLD

Purchased by Auckland Libraries for the Angela Morton Room special collection.

Manawa Seedlings, various

Drypoint, watercolour, Hahnemuhle paper. 

My fascination for seed pods, especially the native mangrove, Manawa, was the starting point for this series of drypoint images created for an earlier body of work. I developed sketches I had made of seeds washed up on my local beach and was much amused by their characterful poses.

These images have also appeared in an earlier edition of artist books I created in 2019 called Field Notes, one of which now resides in the Auckland Museum special collection, and one in the Auckland Libraries’ special collection.

These are the last of the prints, each individually coloured and embellished ready to prop on a shelf or to float mount in a frame. More can be seen in my Coastal inspired collection.

MARK MAKING
MAKING WAY
WAY MARKING

Stitched concertina book of collaged papers.

Hand printed papers including rejects, 

and repurposed and vintage ephemera, card, machine & hand stitching.

 
Initial ideas for my WAY MARKERS exhibition evolved out of the play with words of the title of this book. It is made from long-accumulated papers, kept for their aesthetic and tactile appeal.

The sounds of turning the pages are a feature too.

This book was one of the last pieces created for my WAYMARKERS exhibition and in returning to these words I was reminded of an ongoing goal for the exhibition and residency, 

and in my practice in general.

I have an incurable love for MARK MAKING and always want to make the most of opportunities to explore, experiment and continue to evolve my own vocabulary of mark making.

In the process of experimentation and simply playing with mark making, particularly in a new and unfamiliar environment, I foresaw the potential that my old and familiar ways of working may hopefully MAKE WAY for new and, in turn, be a means to MAKING WAY 

in my progression as an artist.

Simultaneously, I am eternally curious about ways of representing connections to place especially though the choice of mark making, materials and processes used. Through my experience, in residence, I anticipated that this condensation of time and focus on my art making may be a WAY MARKER in the progression of my practice (which it most certainly was, in more ways than I could have imagined.)

SOLD

Purchased by Auckland Libraries for the Angela Morton Room special collection.

Watercolour Landscape Sketchbooks

Watercolour on watercolour paper, collagraph, book board.

Fascinated by the unusual lahar forms in the Hamurana landscape, 
these sketchbooks were inspired by a road trip to Rotorua, 
in-between Auckland’s lockdowns, during the covid pandemic.

 

Hamurana Inspired Landscape Book 1

SOLD

Hamurana Inspired Landscape Book 2

SOLD

Thought Keeper

Woven paper kete filled with “thoughts” of place. 

Hand-coloured Hahnemuhle sumi-e paper, vintage dictionary pages, found shell.

Wouldn’t it be handy to have a kete to carry our thoughts 
that we could rummage through when needed, sort them into some sort of order, 
add to, revise, share and generally just ponder, rather than trying 
to hold them all, unseen, in our head?

Handmade Paper Pieces

These pieces were all made as a result of a paper making workshop with Beth Serjeant and includes my own handmade paper plus the inclusion of some gorgeous pieces of handmade paper by local papermaker & book artist Judith Graveson, purchased when she was having a studio sale a few years ago.

Ginger Tea

Long-stitch book.

Handmade paper with embedded tea leaves, long-stitch cover made 
from handmade ginger paper by Judith Graveson, thread, natural fibre string.

Onion Skins

Circle book.

Handmade paper with embedded onion skins.

Loose Threads

Circular book with red and yellow threads.

Handmade paper structure with embedded threads, fabric scraps, stitching, vintage glass beads.

Folly

Globe book structure

Handmade paper pages, collagraph, wooden base, dowel, skewers, copper wire & found fittings.

This playful structure was created as a result of a paper-making workshop run by Beth Serjeant. Beth had a tiny book that she had made using this structure and I could not resist experimenting with the concept. Sections can be removed by lifting the copper ring and removing the individual sections.

 

The paper circles are made from handmade paper, dyed with onion skins. 

SOLD

Now Is All

Circular book with toggle.

Handmade paper structure with embedded jute string, lined with handmade paper 
by Judith Graveson and paper toggle.

 

It’s just all about the textures. 

That is all. 

Simple pleasures.

Making Dioramas and Mini Worlds 

Dioramas and folded paper toys spark the nostalgia of childhood memories for me, of the magic of creating a three dimensional "world" in miniature scale to allow the imagination to wander.

A 2 dimensional image can hold the viewer at arm's length, as a spectator, viewing the work from a single perspective, often separated by a plane of glass. Transforming the image into 3 dimensions, the viewer's perception and involvement changes. It becomes easier perhaps, for the viewer, to cross the divide between impartial spectator to engaged participant as they alter position to peer into the depths to see what is hidden and to view the vista from different vantage points.

And so, my love for creating dioramas has, if anything, grown with my exploration into developing printmaking into sculptural realms and the world of creating artist’s books.

I enjoy making use of found materials to include in my pieces. Reimagining an off-cut of a piece of driftwood as an off-shore island or the use of tin-cans or unusual boxes as a receptacle, can be a starting point.

A ready supply of printmaking cast-offs and scraps is excellent fodder, as is a keen eye for interesting ephemera or found objects.

A key ingredient for creating dioramas is patience, lots of! 

Key tools are a pair of fine needle-nosed pliers 
and good, strong glasses! 

Guiding Light ~ I Whisper to my Past

Star diorama box.

Monoprint, collage, vintage ephemera, fuse wire, paint, 
coloured pencil, plywood, polyurethane, wood wax.

Fond memories of days at sea, cruising the Northland coast and, at day’s end, 
seeking a safe anchorage for the night, is sparked by this piece.

As the lowering sun bathes the hills in gold, a harbour entrance is discernible and a safe passage is manoeuvred. Being guided by the charts of my grandfather, who was intimately familiar with this coastline, links us to his presence, and his detailed charts guide us to our evening’s rest. 

SOLD

Tethered ~ When We Fall Asleep Where Do We Go?

Floating island diorama box.

 

Monoprint, driftwood, collage, vintage ephemera, found chain, 
nail, plywood, polyurethane, wood wax.

The “island” is the off-cut of the driftwood from making the header for Chorographia II and was the starting inspiration. Any scrap has potential!

 

A love for cruising off the coast of Northland, and of the many beautiful off-shore islands, was an inspiration for this piece. Coming from a sea-faring family, with old photographs aplenty of scenes of the Northland coast, this little setting feels like a link or a tether to my past. Its familiarity sparks fond memories of days spent at sea with vast skies and infinite horizons. A place of dreams.

My imagination was also ignited when I remembered a comment I heard of a person on a charter trip asking the skipper if the islands were attached to the sea floor or could they swim beneath them…! This conjured up wondrous scenes and made me ponder, where do we go when we fall asleep, when our imaginations are set free and anything is possible?

SOLD

The Raine it Raineth Every Day

Monoprint, vintage ephemera, stitching, thread, glue, 
foam board, plywood, polyurethane, wax.

The title for this piece was “discovered” on the back of the box amongst 
the definitions for “Rain” from a page from an old dictionary.

Quote: “The raine it raineth everyday” Twelfth Night, Shakespeare.

I like the double meaning of it just plain ol' rains every day (as it seems to have done this year!) 
AND/OR every day we are faced with trials and hardships that may dampen our spirit.

Sacred Grove

Drypoint, vintage ephemera, monoprint, collage, handmade paper, 
fabric, repurposed found frame, foam board, glue.

The tiny image of trees is a scrap from a print I created several years ago to highlight the plight of the Ngunguru Sandspit which was being threatened by full-scale development. The sandspit is an area of significant cultural and ecological value and this small grove of pohutukawa is a particularly sacred site. As my brother lives in Ngunguru I have become very familiar with, and fond of, the river and sandspit and hope that, for generations to come, it is honoured and treasured.

SOLD

Found Treasures

Included in my exhibition were a selection of my collected treasures. Pieces were collected over many years, savoured for their aesthetic qualities and often saved to mark a particular place or time.

These curiosities were often a starting point for many interesting conversations with visitors to my show. Pieces triggered memories and stories were shared. 

Excerpt from my exhibition statement:

"Through the course of creating and collating my WAYMARKERS exhibition, I came to think of WAYMAKERS as being not just specific, tactile objects but also as ephemeral experiences, senses or memories that we collect and hold on to for a variety of reasons. It also got me thinking about what WAYMARKERS could be and about the many ways that specific things in our lives – people, places, events or experiences - could be marked or remembered, by found or created objects or mementoes. 

How often do we pick up a pebble, a scrap of driftwood… a curiosity that catches our eye? We pocket it, take it home and add it to our “collection of treasures.” And, so often, these objects will reignite the memories of that time, that place, those people you were with, and perhaps, even more vividly than a photograph."

Please visit my earlier post to view a tour of the full exhibition.

Click HERE to visit a post of the "Waymarkers" collection of works.

Click HERE to visit a post of the "Sensing Belonging" collection of works.

To view all of the posts about my WAYMARKERS exhibition

click HERE 

or search under "Exhibitions & Events" 

in the right hand column.

Thanks for visiting!