POSTCARD COLLAGE PRINTS, 2010–2011
1/ Gracia Haby
Unseen fugitives
On the shore, in a dither
Holding steady
I thought I saw you there
With a certain sense of security, the swamp wallaby paused and took in his new surrounds
No one but you and me
A fortunate leap
and
All became clear by moonlight
2011
Four-colour lithographic offset print on Fabriano bright-white hot-press 300gsm paper
Paper size 160 mm X 200 mm
Printed by Redwood Prints
Each an edition of 25
In this series of eight postcard collages made into prints you will meet a Buffalo in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, an Asiatic black bear as you boat about in Cambridge, and possibly catch sight your twin in the rough seas of Hastings and a Wild cat holding steady. You’d be advised to hold onto your hats, should one at present be atop your head.
Several of these postcard collages can be found in the zines, My dear, don’t worry my deer; Looking and almost never finding; It was quite a wilderness; and That in the moon did glitter.
2/ Gracia Haby
The passage home was long
A possible shortcut is considered
A moment to hold close to the chest
Looking for a way in
A chance sighting
One moonlit night with little to no prospect of success
They had returned
and
It was worth it if only to see the stars scuttle across the shore
2010
Four-colour lithographic offset print on Fabriano bright-white hot-press 300gsm paper
Paper size 160 mm X 200 mm
Printed by Redwood Prints
Edition of 15
In this series of eight postcard collages made into prints, you will find the geography dotted with the familiar, and many animals and birds. These tailed or winged protagonists often appear out of place, oft too large for their present surrounds. They climb across the rocks illuminated by moonlight. Sometimes they leap at the moon. Sometimes they saunter nonchalantly through a city as they look for a way in. Sometimes they tiptoe or creep, looking for a safe place to curl. Perhaps they pass undetected, slinking through the forest unseen.
Many of these postcard collages were exhibited in original form at Craft Victoria as part of our exhibition, A key to help make your own world visible (2009), and featured in the zine of same name.
Kitsune Noir: Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison
Danica van de Velde
Kitsune Noir (The Fox is Black)
3rd August, 2010
Although artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison, the dynamic duo behind Gracia & Louise, work out of their studio located in Melbourne Australia, I can’t help but imagine them as globetrotting lady adventurers. Armed with antique magnifying glasses and donning stylish vintage trench coats, Gracia and Louise elegantly traverse Moroccan souks, Icelandic seas, derelict natural history museums and tiger-filled jungles gathering inspiration for their artists’ books, zines, prints and postcards.
In my imaginary fiction, they also travel back in time. After indulging in a spot of afternoon tea with ladies from the Victorian era, placing found objects from prehistoric times in their pockets and collecting discarded family photographs, they return to the present — their bellies full of tea and scones — and begin creating paper wares the likes of which you can view and purchase on their online shop.
Perhaps I am getting slightly carried away, but I’m sure that if you spend some time admiring their work you will be too.
Gracia Haby, O I'd pluck just one!, 2012, postcard collage
The Fox Is Black is an art and design blog that seeks to discover and share the most interesting and inspiring parts of contemporary life and culture. Ran by Bobby Solomon, the site is formerly known as Kitsune Noir and started in April of 2007 as way of sharing ideas, ideas that range from design to culture to music to film.
