The Bird Room

My fellow printmaker Bridget Farmer and I are having an exhibition called The Bird Room opening on Saturday 5 October at Faulkner Gallery in Castlemaine, Victoria.

I'm very pleased that we can finally have a show together after admiring her work so long.

When we first met, Bridget was studying her MFA and I was doing my last year of BFA at RMIT University in 2007, but we really started getting to know each other at Australian Print Workshop in 2008.

She was working there after being awarded her Australian Print Workshop Collie Print Trust Scholarship and I was trying to keep my print practice going after graduating from uni.

Since then we've talking about our love for birds and animals and finally we get to have a show together!

Finch V by Bridget Farmer

Cufulin by Kyoko Imazu

The Bird Room

3 October - 24 November

Opening: Saturday 5 October, 2 - 4pm

Ian Clark is also having an exhibition "The Absence of Drama" of his painting, linocuts and drawings and Lee Shelden is showing her drawings called "Drawn Threads" in the other rooms at Faulkner Gallery.

Faulkner Gallery

35 Templeton Street

Castlemaine

VIC 3450

Australia

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PRESSURESCAPES

PRESSURESCAPES is a collaboration between two Italian-based artists, El Gato Chimney and Emma Malic.
They publish monthly feature on a contemporary printmakers around the world as well as make beautiful prints.

The silence of reason, 2010, image by Pressurescapes

A little more than a month ago my interview with Emma was published on their website.
All questions are unique to each artist but I noticed there is one question they ask to all artists.
How do you think printing will evolve?

I found it challenging to answer this so it got me thinking.
In the interview I said it is definitely steering towards digital printing.
The past five years since graduating from university, I have noticed many more students are choosing digital media in the printmaking departments. 
Also at a bookbinder where I work part-time, more people seem to be using iPad or other digital media instead of turning their artworks into a bound book a folio.

Printmaking will hold on, separate from digital printing and I hope it will continue to be relevant in art world, not a secondary art form after conceptual installations or sculptures and paintings. 
Not only it is a beautiful art form with a long deep history and tradition, but also I believe it can reach better to a wider audience and connect to people and community.

Pressurscapes states "For us, printmaking is not a minor form of art that should be forgotten in the era of digital prints: our goal is to combine our contemporary aesthetics with our love of drypoint and etching"

Thank you Pressurescapes for giving me the opportunity for the interview!

The fate, 2010, image by Pressurescapes

All images are by El Gato Chimney and Emma Malic of Pressurescape

Relationship between drypoint bunny and music

I did a proofing for this drypoint black bunny today. It took a while to get a velvety black I wanted. I made this plate a long time ago but it wasn't black enough after the initial proof so I had to scratch it really violently.
I was listening to Eric's old CD of Rage Against the Machine when I was scratching the plate. And it worked so well. I had an insane energy to get the dark black I wanted. I love finding out what music works best in different circumstances. I don't think I can listen to this when I'm editioning or even reading though!