grahame galleries + editions

Judy Watson

heron island suite of etchings

heron island suite
(2009/2010)

twenty colour etchings – 12 with screenprints
printed in editions of 30 on Hahnemühle paper 50.0 x 35.5 cm
from zinc plates 24.5 x 19.5 cm

published by the artist and grahame galleries + editions

In February 2009 Judy Watson was appointed artist-in-residence at The University of Queensland’s Heron Island Research Station. Watson’s residency coincided with the official launch of the Research Station, rebuilt after being destroyed by a devastating fire in 2007.

heron island suite is the first major suite of etchings by the artist, Judy Watson. Of the twenty-one proofs exhibited at UQ Art Museum twenty were selected for the heron island suite. The artist has altered a number of plates by re-working and overlaying them with research charts by scientists: Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Dr Bradley Congdon and Dr Kathy Townsend.

The artist wishes to thank the following for their assistance in realising this project:
Plate preparation and proofing: Jonathan Tse, Queensland College of Art, Griffith University.
Plate preparation Dian Dharmansjar at Djumbunji, Cairns.
Editioning: Basil Hall Editions (BHE) printers: Basil Hall, Mats Undén and Nena Zanos
assisted by Natasha Rowell, Beth Conway and Ruby Alderton.
Madeline Hoy, graphic design.
Carl Warner, photography.
Fred Pohlmann, presentation boxes.
Scientists: Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Director of the Centre for Marine Studies and the Global Change Institute (both at The University of Queensland); Dr Bradley C. Congdon, School of Marine & Tropical Biology, James Cook University; Dr Kathy Townsend, Manager of The University of Queensland’s Moreton Bay Research Station.
Nick Mitzevitch, Director of the UQ Art Museum and staff.
Noreen Grahame and Linda McBride, grahame galleries + editions.

 

ten suites
containing all twenty etchings in presentation box
$8,500

singles #1 – #16 and #20 $470

singles #17 and #19 $550 #18 $880

CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

#1 (2009)
etching from two zinc plates – plate 1 blue, plate 2  black

#2 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and screenprint – plate 1 warm yellow ochre, plate 2 red burgundy – screenprint  pale blue

#3 (2009/2010)
etching from one zinc plate and screenprint – plate sanguine -
screenprint black  Mass coral bleaching graph courtesy Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

#4 (2009/2010)
etching from three zinc plates and one screenprint – plate 1 warm yellow ochre, plate 2 transparent blue, plate 3 black and brown à la poupée – screenprint white

#5 (2009/1010)
etching from two zinc plates and screenprint – plate 1 brown,
plate 2 black and brown à la poupée -
screenprint white Seasonal-scale El Niño-specific effects graph courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#6 (2009)
etching from two zinc plates – plate 1 green, plate 2 blue

#7 (2009)
etching from three zinc plates – plate 1 warm yellow ochre, plate 2 red ochre, plate 3 black

#8 (2009)
etching from three zinc plates – plate 1 brown, plate 2 red-brown, plate 3 black

#9 (2009)
etching from three plates – plate 1 warm yellow ochre, plate 2 transparent red ochre,
plate 3 black

#10 (2009/2010)
etching from one plate and screenprint – plate dark blue -
screenprint white Meal mass and Feed frequency graphs courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#11 (2009/2010)
etching from 1 zinc plate and screenprint – plate yellow ochre -
screenprint black Black noddies feeding frequency and meal size graphs courtesy
Dr Bradley Congdon and Sea surface temperature graph courtesy Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

#12 (2009)
etching from two zinc plates – plate 1 pink, plate 2 black

#13 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and screenprint – plate 1 yellow, plate 2 red and brown à la poupée -s screenprint black Feeding frequency and Seasonal Scale El Niño-specific effects graphs
courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#14 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and screenprint – plate 1 brown, plate 2 black -
screenprint white Top predator declines-Common noddies and Sooty terns graph
courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#15 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and one screemprint – plate  1 transparent grey, plate 2 aqua blue – screenprint black Chicks in trouble graph courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#16 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and two screenprints – plate 1 warm yellow ochre, plate 2 black -screenprint black Bleaching relative decrease and Net productivity graphs courtesy
Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, screenprint white Meal size graph courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#17 (2009/2010)
etching from three zinc plates and screenprint – plate 1 yellow, plate 2 green, plate 3 black -
screenprint white Seasonal-scale El Niño-specific effects and meal size graphs
courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#18 (2009)
etching from four zinc plates – plate 1 yellow, plate 2 red, plate 3 brown, plate 4 black

#19 (2009/2010)
etching from two zinc plates and one screenpring – plate 1 yellow ochre, plate 2 burgundy red – screenprint black Coral calcification Rate graph courtesy Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg,
Turtle measure graph courtesy Dr Kathy Townsend,
Feeding frequency graph  courtesy Dr Bradley Congdon

#20 (2009)
etching from two zinc plates – plate 1 red/orange/yellow à la poupée, plate 2 black

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Judy Watson

under the act (2007)

Judy Watson’s new artist’s book under the act (2007) made its debut as a work in progress in Lessons in History Vol 1, an exhibition of artists’ books looking at history and the lessons of history, held at grahame galleries + editions in March/April 2007.
As with the artist’s first artist’s book, a preponderance of aboriginal blood (2005), which deals with Aboriginal people’s Right to Vote, Judy Watson has drawn on letters, papers and official documents found in the Queensland State Archives as well as personal family photographs as a base for under the act. The documents from the archives this time, however, pertain to her great-grandmother and grandmother who lived under the Aboriginal Protection and Restriction of Sale of Opium Acts of 1897. They also reveal the categories, “full blood”, “half-cast”, “quadroon”, “octoroon”, ascribed to aboriginal people of the day.
Using etching and lithographic techniques this work makes a powerful statement about life Under the Act. Amongst documents from the archives used in the book is Watson’s great grandmother’s ‘exemption card’. These cards allowed holders to live and work outside the reservations, and were called ‘dog tags’ by their holders, as they were obliged to carry them on their person at all times. Also included are letters of objection from various parties to authorities at the time Watson’s aboriginal grandmother and white grandfather were seeking permission to marry.
In documenting her family’s life in under the act, Watson etches the history of all Aboriginal people who lived Under the Act.
Twenty etchings with chine collé, 42 x 30.5 cm in folio 43 x 32 cm (closed) 71.3 x 99.2 cm (open). numero uno publications in an edition of 20 plus 5 a/p. $16,500

Judy Watson

a preponderance of aboriginal blood (2005)

At first the artist declined the commission by the State Library of Queensland in 2005 to produce an artist’s book to celebrate the Queensland Centenary of Women’s Suffrage and Forty Years Aboriginal Suffrage. But when she heard Loris Williams, former Archivist, Community and Personal Histories Section of the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, use the term, ‘a preponderance of aboriginal blood’, in a lecture at the University of Queensland, she felt compelled to undertake the commission to celebrate Forty Years Aboriginal Suffrage.
The artist’s aboriginal Grandmother, Grace Isaacson, was born on Riversleigh Station in North West Queensland in 1912. Watson says, “Being with family, talking with my Grandmother, absorbing her memories, gaining an insight into her life and the way she sees the land, being shown bushfoods and sites is some of my major research as an Indigenous visual artist. The strength of these experiences sustains me and is the touchstone for my work.”
In a preponderance of aboriginal blood copies of original documents from the State Archives are presented simply. They are photocopied onto thin paper, and, using chine collé, are overlaid with etched images of blood. The artist states that because the material from the archives already has a latent power she didn’t want to change very much and that its leakage onto the page was enough.
Watson says, “I view this material with a deep, personal hurt for my family and for all Aboriginal people.” a preponderance of aboriginal blood is dedicated to Loris Williams. Signed and numbered16 pp, 42 x 32.5 cm in folio 43 x 32 cm (closed) 71.3 x 99.2 cm (open). numero uno plublications in an editions of 5 plus a/p.
One available $10,000