other people's treasures
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artist statement
available artwork
selected archive
notes
galleries in Australia and New Zealand where this series is shown
how to buy an etching from this series
copyright reminder
artist statement
This ongoing series of etchings, begun in 1995 and added to almost annually, explores how everyday objects can become mementos: how they can anchor abstract thought or feeling to a particular time and place. Almost autobiographical in nature, these artworks have, over the years, provided a means for the artist to interrogate episodes in her own life. The titles create a meditative space that, whilst personal, speak never-the-less of the universal experience.
The first of this series Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t reach it (1995) was a simple, single-colour aquatint of the crescent moon. It was the first image Christine envisaged from its conception as an etching, even though it wasn’t her first etching and certainly not her first artwork. Full Moon Publications have published this image, along with nine other etchings from this series, in the suite of greeting cards they’ve named the Bella Collection.
When Christine was in Scotland in 2007 on her McGregor Fellowship, work from the other people’s treasures suite was exhibited at Randolf Galleries in Edinburgh. In 2001, they were shown at the Lismore Regional Art Gallery in the exhibition From the same source.
Pieces from this series are in the Mt Isa Shire Council collection and private collections worldwide.
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the artwork (currently available)
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remember 2011 |
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First Love 2009 details |
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Let the first one you catch be your own 2009 |
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Lost Glove 2008 |
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Lamb 2008 |
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It's your move 2008 This etching was finished in 2008, but I’d been working on the idea for a while – looking at different chess pieces; setting my mind to how the white knight archetype was articulated in twenty-first century life, considering the structures that restrict our ability to move our homes, our lives. I was staying at “Moorabinda”, west of Tenterfield, as I often hadsince I was privileged to create the exhibition of paintings from there, shown at the Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery some years previously. As usual, my stay was informed by whichever project was closest to my mind at the time. I’m not a horsey person, but when Bucky (the resident retired grey) came into view amongst the roses on the other side of the guest room window, I was taken by the determined way in which he grazed. Here was my knight piece! Here was the perfect game player who would help me explore the games we are all involved with, on a regular basis. Here was the symbol that would reinforce the idea that each decision we make is ours, even when it's impossible to imagine or predict the implications of such a move. |
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Why settle for just a piece of the sky 2008 Christine Porter, Lismore 2008 |
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Just let yourself be a frayed knot 2007 |
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The closest distance between two places is measured in memories 2007 I) To extend these ideas I had the images created digitally into ceramic decals (choosing part of the image that was a drawing of my little house in Goondiwindi). These decals were fired onto pieces of broken china like the ones I often stumble across when I’m painting out in the field - discarded fragments of other people’s stories just as these would be fragments of mine. Contained by the theoretical, created across the disciplines of both printmaking and ceramics yet belonging still to my representational practice, this artwork for me is about how memory not only juxtaposes experiences but re-interprets them as an altered version based on who and where you’ve been ... and what you’ve seen since. II) |
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Cherish the handwritten moments 2006 This multi-plate colour etching was created in 2006 from two plates: a plate with the image of a feather, made using the lift-ground etching technique (for more information see glossary) and a second plate with random text effects on it. However, no matter how deeply etched a plate is, there is only a limited number of prints that can be pulled from it. In 2007 that second plate suddenly wore down so that the marks on it were indecipherable. (Obviously not etched deeply enough !). I tried to duplicate the text marks on a new plate, but their randomness was not making it easy. In 2008 I started almost from scratch duplicating the idea rather than the exact marks on the plate. The result is this etching, made with three plates this time, the key plate from the first version and two solar plates that speak of the handwritten in all our life experiences. I felt that the “new” image was too similar to the original to be called a different edition:just as it is too different to be called part of the first . So I have continued the numbering of the edition from where the plate - and therefore the image - changed. Prints numbered 1-22 are the first version of this image: prints numbered 23-90 are the second version. Such is the learning experience that is printmaking ! Christine Porter, Lismore 2008 |
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Don't let anyone tell you what should hold your memories 2004
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Don't let anyone tell you how old you are 2004 When my oldest friend arrived at one of those birthdays that we celebrate with some chagrin, but celebrate never-the-less, I found her a fossil to remind her what old really looked like. It took several more years to find the fossil that I was to use for this etching. I’d been working in Barcaldine, but too far south of the fossil fields that had placed the Muttaburrasaurus in my old stamping grounds of Hughenden. I asked a friend, she with a scientific bent and a father who knew about rocks, what sort of fossil I should be looking for. She suggested a trilobite and at the town market once, searching amongst the bric-a-brac, in Warwick I think it was, I told someone it was a troglodyte I was looking for: they had neither rock nor cave-dweller in stock that week! Eventually I would find the fossil for this etching at the GemFest swap meet held at the Lismore showgrounds each May. Although I searched for an Australian fossil that described visually what I was looking for, the drawings for this etching came from one of a shoal of fish from a fossil field in Wyoming, from the pleistocene age maybe 2 million years old.
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Don't let anyone tell you who you should love 2004 |
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If you can see it ; it's yours to climb 2003 |
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Ballet Slippers 2003 colour etching edition size 90 paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore not available |
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You can get there from here 2006 multi-plate colour etching 5.8 x 6.3 cm edition size 90 paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore not available |
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Don't let anyone tell you how to write your own name 2000 multi-plate colour etching (bleed print) edition size 90 paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore not available |
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Don't let anyone tell you what your treasures should be 2002 multi plate colour etching edition size 90 paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore not available |
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If you've landed where you are; that's where you're meant to be 2003 multi plate colour etching edition size 90 paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore not available |
notes
For more information about techniques described go to the glossary.
Work from this series may be included in selections for the narrative project.
Selected etchings from this series are available at the galleries listed below, however you may want to contact us for more information about availability, pricing and exhibiting details.
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on exhibition (when in edition and/or available)
New Zealand
Wellington: Millwood Gallery, Thorndon 04 4735179
Australian city galleries
Brisbane: Red Hill Gallery, Red Hill 07 33681442
Melbourne: PG Printmaker Gallery, Fitzroy 03 94177087
Gold Coast: Gallery One, Southport 07 5528 0110
Australian regional galleries
NEW SOUTH WALES
Alstonville: Barratt Galleries 02 66280297
Bangalow: Barebones Artspace 02 66871393
Gladstone, via Kempsey: The Old Lodge Gallery 0265674366
Lismore: Christine's studio/gallery (by appointment) 02 66225733
Tenterfield: Forest to Furniture 02 6736 1305
Moree:The Moree Gallery 02 6767523927
QUEENSLAND
Goondiwindi: Fairway Studios 07 46713101
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how to buy an etching from this series
Selected etchings from this series are available at the galleries listed above. Contact Christine directly for information about the current availability, whereabouts and price of any work. She can organise a direct sale but if your sale comes from a gallery contact, Christine will organise for the commission to be paid to the gallery - studio door prices are not cheaper than gallery prices. For more information about buying directly from the artist go to the buy an etching page.
copyright reminder
This note is a reminder that copyright of all content on this website is owned by the artist. This means that copying and transmitting individual images in any form is prohibited by law. If you see an image and would like it in a larger format please contact us. If you see any of these images used inappropriately elsewhere, please let us know.
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