An exhibition about hope, and a shared commitment to printmaking, letterpress and artist bookmaking
OPENING NIGHT: Friday 9 October 6pm
Tangled in Words, Weeds and Water brings together three artists connected by their shared commitment to printmaking, letterpress and artist book practices.
By playing with the relationship between words, weeds and water, the artists invite us to consider how our actions - intentional or accidental - shape the health of our local ecosystems, and how in the future there is hope that more thoughtful interventions might allow new narratives to emerge.
Sandra PEARCE Subtropical Mixed Media Collage
Jill BIRTWISTLE Circle of Life
Eileen MAIR Concertina book of weed prints
About the artists
Sandra PEARCE
I describe myself as an urban ecology artist working across printmaking, collage, artist books, poetry and paper-based installations.
Personal experiences in natural environments like national parks, coastal reserves and tidal creeks inform my art practice. I’m witness to the growing disconnection between people and nature, along with the loss of biodiversity of birds, plants and insects.
My work examines the notion of ‘wilderness’ and ‘wildness’, although I don’t constrain myself to what exists naturally in the wild. I often stray into the wilderness I observe within myself, that which is embedded in objects, and layered within the images I use to explore my stories.
Jill BIRTWISTLE
I’m drawn to discarded materials; furniture fragments, fabric scraps, thrifted odds and ends, and natural finds including feathers or leaves. I collect them instinctively, believing they still have something to say. As well as printmaking and papermaking, artists’ books and assemblage are also part of my practice.
I explore texture, layering, and unexpected pairings, to giving new life to the forgotten. I’m especially interested in how ink and paper interact with natural forms, often revealing delicate, surprising details. My work is a quiet celebration of imperfection and impermanence; an invitation to slow down, look closer, and find beauty and narrative where you least expect it.
Eileen MAIR
Since discovering printmaking in 2010, I have been on a continuous journey of exploration and joy. Working across etching, drypoint, collagraphs, monoprints and linocut, I have found linocut to be my favourite medium. Using photography as a starting point, I develop my ideas through drawing before bringing them to print.
When resolved, I produce small editions of prints. My practice is sustained by my printmaking community, Catledog Printmakers. Together we exhibit locally, collaborate on print exchanges and artist books, and share new techniques. Some of us also explore leterpress printing through volunteering at our local museum, deepening our connection to print and paper.