Winsome Jobling

WINSOME JOBLING A u s t r a li a n G a lle r ies MELBOURNE

Sketches in Paper 11 – 30 May 2021

Drying papers after sheet forming and pressing

A u s t r a li a n G a lle r ies MELBOURNE

Invites you to the opening

WINSOME JOBLING Sketches in Paper Tuesday 11 May 2021 6pm – 8pm 28 Derby Street Collingwood VIC 3066

Artist talk: 2pm - 4pm Saturday 15 May 2021 Current until Sunday 30 May 2021 Open 7 days 10am to 6pm T 03 9417 2422 melbourne@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au

Front cover: Floss (detail) 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 200 x 90 cm unique

It is March as I write this, near the end of the wet. Spear grass stands two

European view is of two seasons: the Wet and the Dry – rain and no rain.

metres high topped with tangles of brown seeds, waiting to be knocked-

The nuanced six-season calendar recognised by Aboriginal people, links

down into the wet earth by the final monsoon storms. The seeds’

events in the natural world to a cycle that predicts seasonal changes and

corkscrew awns will twist them head first into the soil.

recognises the interconnectedness of all things.

The bush is lush and strangely quiet. Plants are concentrating their energy

In my work, I try to reflect a respect for Indigenous cultural and natural

into growth up or down – future proofing for the long dry.

heritage through a philosophy of responsibility and sustainability. This

This is the time to collect plants for papermaking. The sap is running,

bushland gives me my sense of place and identity. My raw materials are

stems are pliable and grasses are plentiful - time to transform natural

my environment.

materials into tactile images and ideas.

Plants convert the invisible into the visible, transforming hidden elements

A favourite is Gamba Grass introduced as cattle pasture and now a

into solid tissue and the cellulose necessary for papermaking.

declared weed I have a permit to collect. It grows in dense clumps up

The plants sourced for these works include Spear Grass, Gamba Grass,

to 4 metres high and fuels intense late dry season fires that damage

Stringy Bark, Banyan, and Kapok as well as Abaca and cotton.

the understorey.

Handmade paper is born in the ebb and flow of water. The flow of water

The works in this exhibition were begun last dry after two meagre

and cellulose fibre pulp across the mesh mould begins the process of

wet seasons.

hydrogen bonding necessary to form a sheet of paper.

The dry season bush is filled with chatter above and below ground -

Each waterborne translucent layer of pulp is agitated back and forward to

the dry cackle of parched leaves and the underground static of roots

bond into an even sheet. The large sheets are poured onto a mould and

searching for water and nutrients. Survival is a case of dropping leaves or

manipulated in carefully built up layers. I like to incorporate information

delving roots deeper and deeper.

and imagery into this wet forming stage to embed layers of meaning deep

Many plants have adapted and stay attached to their parent as a rhizome

into the ‘ground’. Other elements have been drawn with paper pulp and

until their time is right. As the land becomes exhausted, the resilience of

hand stitched on.

plants is worn down; we change the environment faster than they can

My paper then forms the ground for my prints. Like the ground, I have

adapt.

walked on to connect to my materials and the deep time of history

The seasons swing from the saturated and flooded ground of the wet,

moving slowly underfoot.

where monsoonal storms leach nutrients out of the ancient ground to

Earth pigments are embedded while the paper is wet; red sand from

the cloudless dry season of hard ground, fire and dust. Our simplistic

Titjikala, grey mud from Cahills Crossing, Purple/brown from an old

mine near Tennant Creek. All worn-down grains from ancient geology.

The bushfire charcoal, the cremated bodies of the bush.

The drypoints are made on plastic plates; drawing with an engraving tool, sandblasting for grey tones and using solvents to add texture.

These plates add to my library of watermark and print imagery, re-used in different combinations.

These images meant to at once complement and complicate the ground of handmade paper. The works becomes an interplay between the method and the message about the nature of the human impact on the world around us.

The works are a textured, tactile and palpable manifestation of the plant – their voice.

The wind is changing direction, the humidity is dropping and dragonflies abound – it’s nearly the dry season.

Plant data Spear grass – Sorghum spp.

Gamba grass - Andropogon gayanus Stringy Bark – Eucalyptus tetrodonta Kapok - Cochlospermum fraseri Banyan fig - Ficus virens Abaca - Musa textilis Cotton - Gossypium hirsutum Winsome Jobling, 2021 winsomejobling.net

Floss 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 200 x 90 cm unique

Left: Restless 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 145 x 94 cm unique Right: Fragment 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 108 x 48 cm unique

Left: Umwelt 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 200 x 90 cm unique Right: Balance 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 168 x 90 cm unique

Continuance - Cycads before and after a bushfire

Left: Deep time 2021 handmade papers with stitching 130 x 75 cm unique Right: Granular world 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 127 x 60 cm unique

Resilience - Sand Palms after a bushfire

Left: Eternal 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 110 x 47 cm unique Right: Constant 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 150 x 62 cm unique

Left: Exhale 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 105 x 29 cm unique Right: Breath I 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 107 x 33 cm unique

Left: Bush plum 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 149 x 50 cm unique Right: Billy goat plum 2021 handmade papers with stitching 134 x 56 cm unique

Understorey

Left: Grounded 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 94 x 27 cm unique Right: Halo 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 120 x 43 cm unique

The Top End bush - cycads, sand palms, woollybutts and stringybarks

Fecund 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 85 x 61 cm unique

Left: After fire 1 2021 handmade paper with drypoint 61 x 21 cm unique Center: After fire II 2021 handmade paper with drypoint 61 x 25 cm unique Right: After fire III 2021 handmade paper with drypoint 61 x 25 cm unique

Essence 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 63 x 43 cm unique

Deciduous 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 65 x 62 cm unique

Equilibrium 2021 handmade papers with ochres, drypoint and stitching 43 x 50 cm unique

Porous 2021 handmade papers with drypoint and stitching 58 x 55 cm unique

Listen 2021 handmade papers with ochres and stitching 55 x 48 cm unique

The dry season

Seeds 2021 handmade papers with stitching 61 x 43 cm unique

WINSOME JOBLING

Pouring large sheets in layers using stencils

A u s t r a li a n G a lle r ies MELBOURNE: Derby Street 03 9417 4303 Stock Rooms 03 9417 2422 SYDNEY: Roylston Street 02 9360 5177 enquiries@australiangalleries.com.au australiangalleries.com.au Design and Production by Publishing