Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts featuring my prints on paper that have featured on this blogspot:
Made to Order
Unique State (Partners in Print)
Veiled Curtains
A Letter to a Friend
Beyond the Fear of Freedom
Travelling Solander Project
Star Series
Imprint
Cry for the Wilderness
Federation on Hold – Call Waiting
Wish You Were Where?
The Four Seasons
The Creation of Hurricane Katrina – The Disruptor
The Creation of ‘Whose Place? My Place, Your Space’
The ‘Vine Glow’ Series
Vine Glow - Series 2
Vine Glow - Series 3
‘Whose Church?’
‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
Introduction
In 2006, Micheal Florrimell, the founder and co-ordinator of the Exchange Partners in Print Media (EPNPM) portfolios (circa 1991 - 2013) selected/invited 22 professional national and international print media artists to undertake a project for the 2006 ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio. Thirty prints were editioned with the paper size being A3 (297 x 420 mm). Each artist received a complete portfolio of all the editioned prints with the remaining portfolios being donated to various Australian and International print collections. The project was funded by the National Association for the Visual Arts with financial assistance from the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts. The ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio of prints was exhibited in 2007 at the Morningside Campus Library, Southbank Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
My contribution to the portfolio print project titled, ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins,’ was also exhibited at my 2006 solo exhibition, ‘The Journey’, at Megalo Print Studio & Gallery, Watson, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Art Practice and Research
My art practice explores various contemporary issues. The artworks I create rely heavily on research, discussion and on pondering holistically on the creation of the images and how they engage my conceptual awakening to the viewer.
In 2002 the international Human Rights Watch published - “By Invitation Only” Australian Asylum Policy, Vol.14, No. 10 (C), December 2002. This included, in section three of its document, the “Overview: Refugee’s Path of Flight to Australia,” and the opening summary to this section stated the following:
“In the year 2000-01, 4,141 asylum seekers arrived by boat in Australia (1). Nearly all of them were from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Ongoing and severe human rights abuses in each of these countries prompted people to make the difficult decision to leave their homes. This section traces in general terms why they flee and the obstacles they encounter — including policies introduced by the government of Australia to block their movement. Subsequent sections detail each stage of the refugees’ flight towards Australia, and the abuses they suffer”.
Australia is a vibrant multicultural democracy with a strong record of protecting civil and political rights. The Australian government’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers tarnished the country’s global standing.
Images chosen for my print - ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’ - weave my voice of dissent; the preciousness and fragility of the living and how little it featured in the decision-making process that led to the abuses of people seeking refuge, because they were fleeing from political violence including assassination, arbitrary arrest, unfair trial, and restrictions on freedoms. With no sanctuary in their regions of origin, many Islamic refugees suffered cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment on their journey to find asylum/resettlement in industrialized first world countries like Australia. Travelling from one country in their region to another, these refugees could not enjoy effective protection in the countries in our region that they passed through on route to Australia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Instead, with each new journey, they discovered another nightmare had begun.
Artist Statement for ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
Refugees journey from their homeland in the hope of finding a promised land. In this new millennium, the end of the journey has often morphed into their new nightmare.
As Judith Wright penned in her poem, 'The Unnecessary Angel,'
“Yes we can still sing
who reached this barren shore,
But no note will sound
As it did before”.
‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
2006 ‘EPNPM Refugee’ Portfolio
Title: A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins (Full view).
Technique and Media: Digital print employing archival inkjet pigments on archival matt digital paper stock.
The print was created using hand printed silk-screened imagery, original photographs, mixed print media, hand drawn illustrations and artwork. The various techniques/images were then digitally collaged to create the final print. Examples of some of these techniques/images feature below.
Size: 297 mm wide x 420 mm high.
Impression: 6/30.
Comment: Semi-abstract interfacing silk-screen print featuring stencil-like human figures, warm/cool hues and multiple distressed layers to create the sense of anxiousness, fear, turmoil, loss, flight/fleeing, the unknown, and desperation, as a background image to the print.
Comment: In the top right-hand corner of the print a drawing of a white dove (see above print - full view) has been employed as a symbol of peace and innocence as doves have had this association for thousands of years in many different cultures. The dove is positioned over black ‘prison bars’ symbolizing freedom from violence and incarceration, and giving a sense of hope.
Commemt: In the top central third of the print, a photograph of a rose has been digitally etched and positioned on the top layer of the print. In Islam, the rose is known as the flower of Heaven. Roses are perceived as symbols of the human soul and so the beautiful scent of roses is associated with spirituality giving a sense of inner peace and freedom.
Comment: At the bottom central area of the print is the image of a woman with her hands over her head. Numerous digital filters and posterization techniques were employed to create the feelings of despair, fear, loss, distress, worry, pain, sacrifice, fear of the unknown, and loss of dignity suffered by those seeking refuge to new lands.
Comment: Positioned on the top left layer above the image of the woman is a hand drawn illustration of a bouquet of roses employing posterization techniques to create a distressed, abstracted image in pale yellow. The national flower of Iraq is the rose. This rose started as a red rose but through the journey to asylum/freedom the rose has slowly turned to pale yellow, eventually fading and losing all colour – becoming a stateless entity as those seeking asylum fear.
Comment: To the right of the woman’s face is a series of Middle Eastern diamond shaped windows which have been designed in a structured and random fashion to highlight the unexpected directions and turns that life can unfold, no matter what society one lives in, much as a chess board.
Comment: Positioned in the bottom right-hand corner of the print in burgundy is an image featuring the Islamic words, “In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful”.
Collections
The ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio is held in the following collections:
Spike Island Studios (Bristol,UK).
Australian Print Council.
University of West England (Bristol,UK).
Limerick Print Workshop (Ireland).
London Print Studios (London,UK).
Monash University, Library Rare Books, Australia.
Castlemaine Regional Gallery, Australia.
Edinburgh Print Workshop (Scotland).
Dundee Print Workshop (Scotland).
National Gallery of Australia Accession No: NGA 2008.990.23.
National Gallery of Australia: IRN: 190483.
National Gallery of Australia (see the link below).
https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object/190483?keyword=Marie-Therese%20Wisniowski&includeParts
For your convenience I have listed below other posts featuring my prints on paper that have featured on this blogspot:
Made to Order
Unique State (Partners in Print)
Veiled Curtains
A Letter to a Friend
Beyond the Fear of Freedom
Travelling Solander Project
Star Series
Imprint
Cry for the Wilderness
Federation on Hold – Call Waiting
Wish You Were Where?
The Four Seasons
The Creation of Hurricane Katrina – The Disruptor
The Creation of ‘Whose Place? My Place, Your Space’
The ‘Vine Glow’ Series
Vine Glow - Series 2
Vine Glow - Series 3
‘Whose Church?’
‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
Introduction
In 2006, Micheal Florrimell, the founder and co-ordinator of the Exchange Partners in Print Media (EPNPM) portfolios (circa 1991 - 2013) selected/invited 22 professional national and international print media artists to undertake a project for the 2006 ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio. Thirty prints were editioned with the paper size being A3 (297 x 420 mm). Each artist received a complete portfolio of all the editioned prints with the remaining portfolios being donated to various Australian and International print collections. The project was funded by the National Association for the Visual Arts with financial assistance from the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts. The ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio of prints was exhibited in 2007 at the Morningside Campus Library, Southbank Institute, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
My contribution to the portfolio print project titled, ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins,’ was also exhibited at my 2006 solo exhibition, ‘The Journey’, at Megalo Print Studio & Gallery, Watson, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Art Practice and Research
My art practice explores various contemporary issues. The artworks I create rely heavily on research, discussion and on pondering holistically on the creation of the images and how they engage my conceptual awakening to the viewer.
In 2002 the international Human Rights Watch published - “By Invitation Only” Australian Asylum Policy, Vol.14, No. 10 (C), December 2002. This included, in section three of its document, the “Overview: Refugee’s Path of Flight to Australia,” and the opening summary to this section stated the following:
“In the year 2000-01, 4,141 asylum seekers arrived by boat in Australia (1). Nearly all of them were from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. Ongoing and severe human rights abuses in each of these countries prompted people to make the difficult decision to leave their homes. This section traces in general terms why they flee and the obstacles they encounter — including policies introduced by the government of Australia to block their movement. Subsequent sections detail each stage of the refugees’ flight towards Australia, and the abuses they suffer”.
Australia is a vibrant multicultural democracy with a strong record of protecting civil and political rights. The Australian government’s cruel treatment of asylum seekers tarnished the country’s global standing.
Images chosen for my print - ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’ - weave my voice of dissent; the preciousness and fragility of the living and how little it featured in the decision-making process that led to the abuses of people seeking refuge, because they were fleeing from political violence including assassination, arbitrary arrest, unfair trial, and restrictions on freedoms. With no sanctuary in their regions of origin, many Islamic refugees suffered cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment on their journey to find asylum/resettlement in industrialized first world countries like Australia. Travelling from one country in their region to another, these refugees could not enjoy effective protection in the countries in our region that they passed through on route to Australia, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Instead, with each new journey, they discovered another nightmare had begun.
Artist Statement for ‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
Refugees journey from their homeland in the hope of finding a promised land. In this new millennium, the end of the journey has often morphed into their new nightmare.
As Judith Wright penned in her poem, 'The Unnecessary Angel,'
who reached this barren shore,
But no note will sound
As it did before”.
‘A Journey Ends . . . Another Nightmare Begins’
2006 ‘EPNPM Refugee’ Portfolio
Technique and Media: Digital print employing archival inkjet pigments on archival matt digital paper stock.
The print was created using hand printed silk-screened imagery, original photographs, mixed print media, hand drawn illustrations and artwork. The various techniques/images were then digitally collaged to create the final print. Examples of some of these techniques/images feature below.
Size: 297 mm wide x 420 mm high.
Impression: 6/30.
Collections
The ‘EPNPM Refugee’ portfolio is held in the following collections:
Spike Island Studios (Bristol,UK).
Australian Print Council.
University of West England (Bristol,UK).
Limerick Print Workshop (Ireland).
London Print Studios (London,UK).
Monash University, Library Rare Books, Australia.
Castlemaine Regional Gallery, Australia.
Edinburgh Print Workshop (Scotland).
Dundee Print Workshop (Scotland).
National Gallery of Australia Accession No: NGA 2008.990.23.
National Gallery of Australia: IRN: 190483.
National Gallery of Australia (see the link below).
https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object/190483?keyword=Marie-Therese%20Wisniowski&includeParts
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