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Past Exhibitions

Deep: Simone Tippett and Kate Simpson

An exhibition of monotypes and monoprints

Simone and Kate became friends over the press at Union Street Studios, Stepney. This exhibition is a much an expression of their friendship and love of collaborative printmaking, as it is of their personal visions.

Simone has been obsessed with the morphing patters of swimming pool water over tiles for years. She worked at Burnside Pool and the Aquatic Centre for a long time and took countless Polaroids of rippling watery blue light.

Night Swimming
You can feel the water moving!

Night Swimming is based on felt memories of swimming after hours, alone in the dim glow of the semi-lit water, immersed in rippling tranquility.

Kate’s fascination with leaves and plant detritus informs her writing and printmaking. In a world of urban disconnection, the subtle truths of nature are always present and oft unnoticed. Kate has layered deep indigoes and bright orange over buff paper to create rich but subdued surfaces. Her prints are quiet, sleeping things, requiring slow time to come to know.

IMG_6875 LR

Monoprints and monotypes are like printed paintings. In a world that takes multiples for granted, theses art works stand alone as unique objects. Layer upon layer of ink has been applied by hand to plain Perspex plates and repeatedly hand printed in a press over full size sheets of paper. Each new layer is made in response to what has gone before and each is a gamble; it is not until the paper is pulled from the press that the artist can see the result. For all the technical skill involved, it is a remarkably intuitive process, fraught with unknown possibilities. Many layers of ink bleed-printed over the edges transform ordinary sheets of paper into beautiful objects, each with a tangible physical presence of its own. The translucencies of successive layers gives each print understated depth and complexity. No two prints are the same.

Monoprinting is a humble process. It takes simple, plain ingredients and makes something entirely new in the world. For Simone and Kate, it is a much about the process of collaborative making as it is about the results. And, it is such fun!

Visit Simone or Kate in Mrs Harris’ Shop during October.  The gallery is open 11am – 3pm Saturdays and Sundays.  (If you’d particularly like to speak with Simone or Kate, call the gallery on 0452 614 613 to check if they are in.)

Presented by Union Street Printmakers.