the dragonfly diaries
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artist statement
images of the artwork in this series
notes
where to see these etchings in Australia and New Zealand
how to buy a dragonfly etching
copyright reminder
artist statement
My friend Di van Dorrsen was adamant that the imagery of the dragonfly was something that would suit the way I made artwork, so I played with the idea for a while - for a long while actually. It took a number of years and any number of false starts to begin to see exactly what I was drawing: I hadn’t really paid much attention to these small, fast-moving, brightly-coloured insects before. Once I did; I began to see them everywhere.
It became a technical challenge to represent, in the permanence of zinc and copper, something that seemed as fragile and ephemeral as a dust mote. No single technique matched the subject in ways that others had - such as the photographic processes in the Hadrian's Wall etchings in 2007. Eventually this body of work was created using many different techniques. It felt as if I was the dragonfly myself flitting about trying everything, until a whole series of images, not just one, resolved themselves suddenly, in a rush, last month.
I researched my muse, discovering its entomological peculiarities - its 30,000 lenses, its wing speed, its pre-historic ancestry. I found how cultures across the world had applied supernatural and symbolic interpretations to its form and habit. How, living as it does, hovering between air and water, it appears to commune with what would drown the rest of us; how its life span includes a dramatic mid life transformation from earthbound to airborne; how some say it would come during the night and sew up the mouths of the ill speaking. It had been informing my culture all along and I’d hardly known it.
Each piece in the suite refers to some part of the dragonfly’s mythology or physicality. The collective title, the dragonfly diaries, relates to its peripatetic habit. It implies a transformative journey recorded on a sun-spun wing tip, the same wing abandoned days later - evidence of the dragonfly’s perilously short, (though, I soon discovered, symbolically imperative) life span.
Christine Porter , Lismore October 2010
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the artwork
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D is for dragon, flying |
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sun dancer 50 x 64mm |
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moon dreamer 58 x 68 mm |
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wind drinker colour etching edition size: 90 printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm cream available |
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sky designer multi plate colour etching edition size: 90 printed by the artist at Full Moon Editions, Lismore paper: Hahnemuller 300gsm cream 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.
prices in this series from $110 (AUD) unframed
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
ViCTORIA
Beechworth: Divine Linen 03 5728 2088
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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.
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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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