Fragile Gains - still very fragile

Over the weekend we learned that the Supreme Court of the US had overturned the Roe v Wade decision. I was despairing and enraged. The consequences of this decision for so many women, in so many ways - it is not just about abortion - are immense. The surveilling of women's bodies and lives and decisions and choices is unconscionable. I wept silent tears, and felt heart-sick once more, for women and this world.

For the past few months I have been re-working my Fragile Gains work from 2014-2015, this time exploring it with the fragility of eggshells.

I started out with colour, and pondered how they should stand. I had originally been playing with words about eggs; but then it became clear that the fragility was once again, about women's rights and gains. 

And how sad I was when I realised just how relevant this one still was.

 So today, I completed the set of seven fragile gains. I am yet to finalise how they will be fully presented, but they will be teetering. As are we all.

And by the end of today I was playing with the notion of individual ones, in a wee box...

It is so hard to work out what the next steps can possibly be; but solidarity, protest and persisting will surely be at the heart of it.

Exciting news!

 I learned last week that my artists' book Turning Point - the trio of wee books with vintage letraset on glassine paper - is a finalist in the prestigious Libris Awards - our national Artists' Book award.

I am so happy they were judged worthy and even tho they are very small compared to some of the more large and impressive books; I am pleased they will share the stage.

I am waiting for a perspex case to be made to protect them and then they will posted off to be viewed and judged and considered.

Its extra nice to know that Barry's grand book It Won't Dismantle Itself will make the trip north with them and be on show in the same space!

Here's a walk through the middle one - the black version.

It's starts with a single word, altho we can see part of the path ahead.

Emphasis!

One by one they build.

Getting larger, getting louder.

Voice join.

They take up space.

They jostle to be heard.

They say it over and over again.

The noise is deafening!

By me.

The books are small and light. They measure 11cm (w) x 7cm (h) closed and open to 22cm (w).

You can hold them in your hand, be up close and personal with them, hear the rustle as the pages turn.

My artist statement for Libris:

Turning Point 1, 2 & 3 respond to the strength of young women who in 2021 chose to no longer be silent. To speak out about child sexual assault; about sexual assault; about consent; and about sexual harassment.

 

The movement started with a few voices and became a crescendo that changed the way women feel – no longer will they bear the shame of these acts; perpetrators will be held to account.

 

The rising wave of noise is reflected as the text intensifies throughout the books; these pages make a noise as you turn them, no silence left here. Sometimes the voices are quiet and persistent; at other times the voices are loud and enraged.  Young women have led the way and we shall be silent no more.

SILENT                 NO                MORE

An 8 hour day

 Barry has blogged about his poster book "It won't dismantle itself" and how it is a finalist in the Libris Awards here. Now that it has all come together I can share the bit I contributed. I posted a bit about the process here; but this part shows more of the outcomes I guess.

Together we talked our way through his book and what it offers; how to present posters; how to strengthen and reinforce the messages, how to sequence the posters and more.  I think it is a remarkably powerful book and the link between words, imagery, graffiti, posters, embossing and hinting all works brilliantly (imho).

We talked at length about how to bind it as well - and it felt to me that it was truly deserving of a quality stitching.  We made sure to re-inforce the lighter paper pages and Barry painstakingly cut the strips and held them down.

We decided I would do a single sheet binding.

I tried to work out how many holes would be needed so it looked meaningful; and was strong. Form AND function. I always say people start 'reading' an artists' book well before they turn the first page and I wanted them to feel that this book had something to say...

I spent about half a day piercing holes in the pages, using a template. On three of the pages, the template moved and the reinforcing pages had to be re-done. I called Barry down and he executed the remedial repairs with aplomb!

The next day I began the stitching.  Barry was there at the beginning...

The front cover - the first stitches made.

A tangle of threads and needles after making those first stitches.  I had to separate, unwind and untangle between each stitch with each pair of needles.

And he returned 8 hours later as I stitched the back cover on.

It was a massive tasks and here I am doing the final slip knot on the inside of the back cover.

My first turning of the pages, making sure the pages settle and lie flat.

And afterwards checking how the stitching lines up.

Anyhow it holds - yes it has function!

I left it there that day, and returned the next to finish off the final knot and snip the threads. I was so tired the day before I really didn't want to do that final irreversible step of snipping which can't be remedied, so I thought I would attempt that with fresh eyes and mind and hands.

And the leftover snipped threads still with their needles...

It was a big job that required lot of quiet and concentration, but which worked out well. I am really glad that I could honour Barry's work with some good stitching. And yee ha to him being a Finalist!!!

Turning Point

 It took me quite a while to come up with the title for this book.

Its working title had been "Silent no more", reflecting on the year that was 2021.

I thought about how Grace Tame, a child sexual abuse survivor, was named Australian of the Year and how she used that platform as an opportunity to change forever how we thought about and spoke about abuse of women.

I thought of how Brittany Higgins another young woman, who was allegedly raped in a Minister's office in Parliament House after hours, came forward and spoke her truth and told her story and how the stories and stands these two women took gave confidence to so many older women who had simply "put up with it" and borne the shame of abuse and assault as the victims, to also stand up and speak out.

I thought about how Saxon Mullin's persistence in her pursuit to have consent laws in NSW changed to reflect positive consent; not simply the lack of the word "no" and the joy when those laws passed last year.

I thought about the anger of women as they marched en masse to say enough is enough. And I felt that women would be silent no more.

The shame was not and is not ours. The shame rests solely with the perpetrators of assaults and abuse.

Silence helps no one, except the perpetrators.

The book is actually three small books.

The pages are all glassine paper.  I didn't want this book to be quiet; every time you turn a page you hear the crinkle noise. The book itself is not silent.

All the lettering is vintage letraset.

I started with a white on white version - the quiet mouse that roared.

The pages start with a single word, building to a crescendo, a cacophony, of the call to be silent no more. The transparent nature of the glassine enabling a look ahead and a reminder of what has been.

I then chose to do a black version

And the finale is a red, black and white version.

The three are small but mighty. I like their understatedness and the strength they demonstrate as you make your way through them.

My first book of 2022.

2021 was a turning point for Australian women. 

Thank you Grace, Brittany and Saxon.

Hear Me Roar, and embossing

I have been working on a new book - collation of things - and was wondering what would be a good title?  This way and that I went, and then it landed. Hear Me Roar.

No prizes for guessing it's a feminist book.

My first proofs are often done with carbon paper - cheaper and faster than inking.

As I played about with registration, I liked the way it re-inforced itself.

After printing I kept over printing to take as much ink off the type as I could, and played with subtle and small rotations of the paper.

Hold that thought I thought.  Imagining if I could actually plan something like that and have the bottom 'roar' just taking off!

And I thought a bit about the covers and wanted to check if I could emboss the feminist symbol, and so far so good.

I wanted to add a little something to the title page. Was it a border? Was it some outlining? Was it some embossing? 

Embossing it was.

And stars it was. Kind of celebratory and sparkly.

A draft playing around with layout of the individually hand embossed stars.

And then it was on to stitching...

Honestly cannot tell you HOW MANY TIMES I had to snip the threads and start again. Why are some days not the days for stitching?  

But the good news is it is done.  I haven't been able to photograph it finished, so that will happen this week I hope.

To settle my mind when I was struggling to stitch the simplest of stitches, I embossed some Christmas cards.

And things settled down...