Description

Uncle Doug’s Tree Story
type and photopolymer letterpress printed hand bound concertina artist’s books
Edition of 8

Uncle Norm’s Tree Story
type and photopolymer letterpress printed hand bound concertina artist’s books
Edition of 8

Collections:
Uncle Doug Archibald’s private collection
Uncle Norm Archibald’s private collection
Museum of Art and Culture Yapang
Fisher Library Rare Books Collection, Sydney University

To ground the work, Blue Haze: Awaba in place on Awabakal Country I produced an edition of these hand bound letterpress artist’s books in collaboration with Uncle Doug and Uncle Norm Archibald, two Elders who live locally and generously shared their tree stories with me.

With Uncle Doug I travelled to his tree and he shared the story of how when he was a young boy this eucalypt’s trunk consisted of two distinct trunks that were joined at the base grew apart and then grafted together just above, leaving a large enough gap for him to jump through. Now as an Elder he showed me how the trunk had fused together over time, leaving only a tiny gap no larger than a coin. This tree was also important as a marker tree for the local Aboriginal camp.  He has had a relationship with this tree for most of his life. He gathered bark that this tree had shed for me.

Uncle Norm’s tree story was developed from his time caring for the grounds of the MAC Yapang sculpture garden. Just weeks before I arrived for a development residency he had removed an olive bush that he said looked like it was encroaching too much on an old iron bark. When he removed the bush he found that the tree was a scar tree, he speculated that it might have been used for a canvas for painting. He gifted me some leaves from the tree.

Entrusted with their stories, During my time as Printer-in-Residence at Sydney University I spent three months in the Fisher library at the Piscator Press loading type and printing their words to honour their stories. I also created nature prints, printing directly from the leaves and bark from their trees.

Thanks: Brothers Uncle Doug Archibald & Uncle Norm Archibald and MAC Yapang; Piscator Press and Rare Books team, Fischer Library, Sydney University