Time and Place 2018
Adapted flag book structure of Arches HP Watercolour paper and papyrus.
Artwork in gouache, ink and digital prints as collage. Prints taken
from the book "Oud Nieuw Oost Indien vervattende"
published in Amsterdam in 1726.
40 x 40 cm. displayed, 41 x 9 x 7 cm in box
Private Collection, Oxford, UK
The 'Place' referred to in this artwork is the region around the 180th meridian now known as the
International Date Line. Inspired by Umberto Eco's novel The Island of the Day Before
set around 1643, this artists book explores the difficulty of navigation before the invention of
reliable marine chronometers. Sea captains relied on 'dead reckoning' - a mixture of time and
place calculated with celestial objects and an array of times from their unreliable
timekeepers. They were searching for the 'punto fijo' (thought to pass through the Fijian islands -
named Prins Willem Eilanden by Abel Tasman). It was suggested in the novel that at the 'punto fijo' one could move back and forth between today and yesterday.
Ten Books on Architecture 4 2017
A set of 10 books closed and presented in a box measuring 44 x 17.5 x 11.5 cm.
Individual book sizes vary.
The set displayed opened measures approximately 60 x 50 cm.
Commissioned for a Private collection, Oxford, UK.
Using architecture as an analogy for building a book structure, this work
references the Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius (De Architettura, c. 40BC)
and Alberti's De re aedificatoria (1452).
Ten books with an architectural theme are contained in a box acting as a bookshelf.
They are not architectural models but sculptural book structures modelled on
(or relating to) their architectural content.
My intent was to express the work of historically significant architects
and their architectural works.
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Book 1 Vitruvius (b. c80-70 BC)
Embossed and cut concertina folds of Arches paper painted with diluted Sumi ink.
When displayed the line of columns suggest a Roman temple.
Book 2 Suger (b.1081-1151)
Adapted tunnel book with cut concertina sides. Canson and Arches paper, ink and watercolour.
When displayed the book structure suggests a Gothic cathedral filled with light and the luminous colours of Suger's stained glass windows.
Folded page construction of Canson paper with page inserts of Canson and Arches paper,
PVC ribs and covers. When displayed the book structure references Brunelleschi's outstanding
engineering achievement of the dome of Florence Cathedral. The green and white pages refer
to internal details around the inside of the dome. These pages are circular and the
details are in perspective, making reference to the fact that Brunelleschi is credited
with having discovered linear perspective.
Book 4 Alberti (1401 -1472)
Concertina fold book with gutters and collaged pages making a structure resembling a
shallow facade. Fabriano and Arches paper with PVC covers. Alberti was an
architect and writer who expanded on Vitruvius's requirements for perfection by adding
proportion, geometry and harmony. His architecture often used
decorative facades.
Book 5 Mackintosh (1868 - 1928)
Adapted French door construction of Arches paper, watercolour, ink, PVC.
Mackintosh included new technologies and combined the rational with the
expressive. This book structure is based on his furniture design and the
cupboards whose doors opened to the shape of a Japanese kimono.
Book 6 Le Courbusier (1887-1966)
Cube book resembling a simple white concrete box - which was how his architecture
was described initially. The page structure inside is adapted from one of
Le Corbusier's internal construction plans with a mezzanine floor.
Concertina of double Perspex pages containing my own digital images taken in Chicago.
The structures are held together with fishing line.
The book can be manipulated for display into a structure suggesting two tall
glass windowed skyscrapers. The reflections in the glass of other buildings
are intended to represent the spread of Mies' influence in Chicago.
Folding triangular paged book displayed as a pyramid and made from engraved perspex
and Canson paper. Pei turned the solid pyramid into a beautiful
light-filled glass and steel object.
Book 9 Libeskind (b. 1946)
Sculptural slanted rectangular book made of kangaroo skin vellum and scored aluminium.
Based on the Jewish Museum in Berlin which is intentionally disturbing and
disorientating. The text of this book is intentionally difficult to access and read.
The use of kangaroo vellum makes reference to the skin of a dead animal.
Book 10 Hadid (1950 - 2016)
Folded book page construction of Arches paper mounted onto PVC.
The unique shape of this book was taken from the shape of the units in one of
Hadid's apartment buildings and slightly altered so it would stand as a
sculptural book. Other organic shapes and patterns used in her
architecture, both structurally and decoratively, form the cutout patterns
on the book's pages.
The Ruin of Ruins 2017.
Digital Print and collage in a Flag book variant 21 x 7 cm.
Artist's own collecton
A personal expression of the tragic war in Syria and the
needless and wilful destruction of the important historical site of Palmyra.
Destroying a people's historical and cultural sites is an attempt to
erase them from history and memory.
The Legacy of Absence and Silence 2016
Book of multiple concertinas with ink and pencil drawing, prints and
image transfer on Fabriano paper. 75 x 15 x 5 cm.
Private collection, Oxford, UK
The search for identity and belonging, the desire
to be part of a larger shared history and cultural background,
but glimpses only of the past can be seen, never the full story.
The Legacy of Silence 2016
French simplified binding, ink and pencil drawings, prints and
image transfer on Fabriano paper. 37.5 x 17.5 x 1.5 cm.
Artist's own collection
An exploration of identity and belonging of those people
whose forbears settled in Australia from the early days of
settlement throughout the 19th century.
The Future of an Illusion 2016
A collaboration with Jack Oudyn
Book of multiple concertinas. Acrylic, gouache, ink and soluble carbon
and image transfer on Arches HP and Canson card. 25 x 29 x 2 cm.
4 Originals
1/4 Helen Malone, Brisbane
2/4 Private Collection, Oxford, UK
3/4 Jack Oudyn, Brisbane
4/4 State Library of Qld, Brisbane,
This book is about the processes the body goes through after death
and the belief systems associated with death. Text used in the
book was sourced from The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud
and Being Dead by Jim Crace. The side concertinas explore the
physical changes of the body over a period of time and include image transfers
of scientific anatomical drawings.
They include a skull as an art historical reference
to the Vanitas still life of the 17th century and
reminds the viewer of the transience of our existence.
The middle section contains a void leading nowhere.
The Sunken Boat 2016
Sculptural and flexible artists book.
Etching and acrylic paint on Perspex.
Unique book measuring 20 x 10 x 25 cm.
Books on Books Collection, Oxford.
A Sunken boat is the subject of this flexible sculptural book of etched Perspex.
The etchings depict moving currents, waves and water, seaweed, fish,
debris and bodies signified by a cross - a reflection on refugees who have
lost their lives in Australian waters. I was initially inspired by the name of Rimbaud's poem
The Drunken Boat to make the flexible book structure which can be displayed to suggest the
erratic movement of the sea. It can also be displayed with the opened covers resting on the bottom
and the currents, fish, waves and debris floating over the top of the wreck.
Slim Chance 2015
A collaboration with Jack Oudyn
Dos-a-Dos book of Kraft card.
Drawings with gesso, gouache, fresh turmeric, ink, pencil, and
collage on Kraft paper. 21 x `15 x 2 cm. Edition of 4
Collection of Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
Collection of Jack Oudyn
The artists exchanged ten lines of text by email and each responded
with a drawing on the plight of refugees no longer
being settled in Australia and facing uncertain futures.
Makes No Sense 2015
Small booklet using as covers, cards from the exhibition of Back to the Front (2014)
sent back from France.
Inkjet print of etching of black ink on card
Edition of 20
All in private collections
The title refers to WWI and the booklet contains pages turned sideways,
upside down and in no logical sequence.
The cover was also coated with ink and the scratched surface
is raised like a wound or scar.
The Presence and Absence of the Light 2015
A collaboration with Jack Oudyn
3D Linocut print 20 x 25 cm. Edition of 10
Iraq National Library, Baghdad
Herron Art Library, Purdue University, Indiana, USA
Beau Beausoleil, USA and Sarah Bodman, UWE, UK
Made for the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here printmaking exhibitions,
The artwork combines a linocut of an Islamic screen with openings
to let in the light of the world, with other openings blocked by an aggressive black
arrow moving across the screen. The underlying abstract asemic writing
contains the jumbled letters of Al Mutanabbi Street Starts Here.
Into the Void 2015
(Into the Void at the space between day and night)
Tapering double-sided Fan book
Ink and gouache on Arches paper. 28 x 14 x 8 cm
Collection of Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
The figures disappearing into sunset on the white side
have turned into ghostly outlines on the back.
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The One Pound Pom 2015
Concertina book in canvas cover in box
Inkjet print on Arches paper with ink drawing, rubber stamps,
sealing wax, linen thread, satay sticks, copper shim. 25 x 22 x 2 cm
Private Collection, Brisbane
Using official printed documents, this book represents a convict ship and is based on
the historical story of the trial and transportation to Australia of Timothy Dempsey in 1821.
He was found guilty of having a forged one pound note in his possession.
The official reproduction of the one pound note is used as the sail.
The copper coins represent the convict love tokens often given to loved ones
on departure for the unknown.
Timothy was given a ticket of leave after seven years and was granted
a Certificate of Freedom after his fourteen year sentence.
He became a prosperous citizen in the Bathurst region.
