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Sunday, April 26, 2015

The Piano Has Been Drinking at Maitland Regional Art Gallery


The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) 2014, ink with touches of gouache 
on A4-sized Khadi paper. Collection: Maitland Regional Art Gallery, NSW.

The drawing reproduced above marks a momentary return to silhouette imagery. It was made late last year, in response to a brief from Jo Eisenberg, Cultural Director of Maitland Regional Art Gallery in NSW and curator of a forthcoming exhibition in which invited artists were asked make a work on paper based on this song by Tom Waites:

The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)

The piano has been drinking, my necktie is asleep
And the combo went back to New York, the jukebox has to take a leak
And the carpet needs a haircut, and the spotlight looks like a prison break
And the telephone's out of cigarettes, and the balcony is on the make
And the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking...

And the menus are all freezing, and the light man's blind in one eye
And he can't see out of the other
And the piano-tuner's got a hearing aid, and he showed up with his mother
And the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking
As the bouncer is a Sumo wrestler cream-puff casper milquetoast
And the owner is a mental midget with the I.Q. of a fence post
'Cause the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking...

And you can't find your waitress with a Geiger counter
And she hates you and your friends and you just can't get served without her
And the box-office is drooling, and the bar stools are on fire
And the newspapers were fooling, and the ash-trays have retired
'Cause the piano has been drinking, the piano has been drinking
The piano has been drinking, not me, not me, not me, not me, not me...

Tom Waites (1977)

For those unfamiliar with the song, I recommend the link below; the words and music are best savoured in unison, especially when performed by its inestimable composer:

Although Waite's crazy, hallucinogenic lyric draws word pictures that are worthy of Magritte, I haven't attempted to illustrate the song. My work is drawn from the mental picture that was summoned like a genie from a bottle the first time I played the song. The stiff necked protagonist’s starched collar and tightly buttoned dress recall the pleasure-shunning Puritans. Her "bonnet", however, takes the form of a piano. This is a Puritan in denial; despite herself, it seems she is more in tune with the drunken piano.

The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) is one of eight works on paper exhibitions at MRAG, collectively titled JUST PAPER, that will run concurrently between 2 May and 22 June. For full details, go HERE.

Friday, April 24, 2015

22-Spot Ladybird Woman #3: How the Ladybird Got Her Spots


Pictured above: 22-Spot Ladybird Woman (Psyllobora vigntiduopunctata Homo-insecta) 2015, acrylic on wood, 32 x 23 cm. (Artist’s impression).

To date, the exact measurements of this recently discovered Homo-insecta are unknown. Based on numerous eyewitness accounts, she is approximately 26 cm in length (even taller when she lets her hair down) x 13.5 cm in width. Miniscule by comparison, the European insect from which she evolved, Psyllobora vigntiduopunctata (abbr. Psyllobora 22-punctata) measures a mere 3-5 mm.

Pictured below (and also previous 2 blog posts): selected views of the documentation process.



Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Work in Progress: 22-Spot Ladybird Woman #2

22-Spot Ladybird Woman: gradually taking on colour and almost ready for her spots.



Pictured above: more developmental views of 22-Spot Ladybird Woman, 2015, pencil, gesso and acrylic on wood, 32 x 23 cm (see also previous post).

Friday, April 17, 2015

Work in Progress: 22-Spot Ladybird Woman

Beginnings of a new painting:  22-Spot Ladybird Woman (Psyllobora viginitiduopunctata Homo-insecta) pencil on wood (top image); pencil and gesso on wood (bottom image) 32 x 23 cm.



Saturday, April 11, 2015

Moth Woman Mail Art #2

True to their conviction that it's well and truly time for a change, the Moth Woman Vigilantes have also commissioned a 2015 Republic of Mothstralia 55c stamp. (See also previous post, Monday, April 6).


 2015 Republic of Mothstralia 55c stamp (enlargement). Original artwork: Deborah Klein,
Dysphania cuprina Moth Woman, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 30 cm)

Set of 2015 Republic of Mothstralia 55c stamps (actual scale)


Monday, April 6, 2015

Moth Woman Mail Art

Ever the optimist, I’m still imagining and imaging a brave new order in which the Moth Woman Vigilantes* take us under their collective wing. (It couldn’t be any worse than what we have now).

Step 1: Designing new sets of Mothstralian postage stamps, the first of which is previewed here.

2015 Republic of Mothstralia 20c stamp (enlargement). Original artwork: Deborah Klein,
Coscinocera Hercules Moth Woman, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 25 x 30 cm)

Set of 2015 Republic of Mothstralia 20c stamps (actual scale)

The "stamps" were constructed by combining my artwork with the iPad apps Face on Stamps, Square Ready and Strip Design.

(*Notorious fighters for freedom, equality and social justice, whose true identities have never been uncovered. See also: Blog Post March 8, 2013).

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Editions (Redux)

Spider-hunting Wasp Woman, 2014, hand coloured linocut, 29.5 x 21 cm, edition: 30

Editions (Redux) currently showing at Tacit Contemporary Art, is essentially a reduced version of Editions 2015, the gallery's recent exhibition of Victoria-based printmakers that featured eight of my linocuts (see Blog Post Saturday, February 21). Spider Hunting Wasp Woman (pictured above) is one of six Homo-insecta making a return appearance.

The complete lineup of artists (15 of the original 34) is:
T. J. Bateston, Louise Donovan, Kevin Foley, Peter Garnick, Ying Huang, Kyoko Imazu, Hyun Ju Kim, Deborah Klein, Damon Kowarsky, Kir Larwill, Marion Manifold, Soula Mantalvanos, Stephanie Jane Rampton, Trudy Rice and Joel Wolter.

Editions (Redux) is curated by Keith Lawrence. The exhibition runs until 12 April.