Biography

I began making books in the 1980s at art school My work practice in the book arts encompasses writing, printmaking, photography and bookbinding.
My work is in public and private collections in Australia and overseas.
Over 20 years I have been collecting books by artists. As a way of promoting the genre I established the Bibliotheca Librorum apud Artificem, the library for the artist’s book in Sydney, Australia. The collection can be viewed on-line and is open to the public by appointment.

Themed Panel (Suggested)

Book is a Four Letter Word
I will explore how the “zone” of making books and the “zone” of collecting books have for me influenced, how the two zones have informed, enhanced and challenged each other. They can almost be seen as opposites; book making being introspective, intuitive and practical and book collecting being outward reaching, critical and theoretical.
In the time span from the mid 1980s to the present the book arts has grown in popularity, with the rise of digital technology and the internet book making has almost become a fad and yet still remains marginal in the wider art world. What is the impact of the increase in production?
I will illustrate the presentation with examples of my own work but also show books from my collection. I will follow a chronological path starting when I began making and collecting books in the 1980s. However along the way I will look to the left and right, introducing and questioning ideas and theories that have influenced my thinking. Is knowing the physical properties, the paper and binding, of a book important? Does the object-ness of the book ensure its future or threaten it? What is the role of history? Do we need to know what came before? Are definitions important or they are waste of time? How can collecting be more that an obsessive compulsive disorder?