Diane Harries, Printmaking
2021 Printmaking inspired by Medieval lacemaking
Right: Dear Margaret
Linocut, collagraph, wax seal, linen thread.
Margaret Peyton is renowned from her memorial brass depicting her lace gown
Below: Lace Ceiling
Linocut, woodcut
The Lace Ceiling hints at the politics of womanhood. Do all women have the equality that some of us enjoy? It’s an ongoing struggle for many.
Print Matters: Works on Paper, PCANZ Project, Group Show
Exhibited at ArtsPost Galleries, Hamilton, 15 June - 16 July 2018
Title of print: New Knowledge, 2018
linocut, collagraph, solar plate relief print, joomchi process
660 mm high, 330 mm wide
Artist Statement:
I am intrigued by our human fascination with scientific discovery, and how the wonder we feel seems to be a timeless phenomenon.
In Medieval times people were amazed at seeing images of weird creatures that lived in the sea, some of which were good to eat. During the Enlightenment period, people became fascinated with the categorisation of different kinds of fish, creating brilliant encyclopaedias of every known species. We continue to be astounded today with discoveries of very deep-sea dwellers, such as the fan fin angler fish, filmed with all of her delicate bioluminescent filaments floating in the calm waters of the abyss.
At the Margins International Print Exchange, 2017
PCANZ (Print Council Aotearoa New Zealand) & AP (Aberystwyth Printmakers Wales)
This exhibition asked printmakers to reflect on the way that the 'marginal' positions of the British and New Zealand archipelagos have influenced the representation of culture, landscape, society, remembered histories, and how this has changed in the 21st century.
Print Title: Interwoven stories, 2017 Diane Harries, Whanganui
In historic times, both the Welsh and the Maori were subject to marginalisation by the over-ruling English. Their languages were outlawed in the school playground. Today, early learning centres based on total immersion language strategies provide a means to reinstate lost knowledge, in both countries. In Wales, Welsh language pre-schools are called Ysgol Feithrin and in New Zealand, Maori language pre-schools are known as Kohanga Reo.
My daughter attended Ysgol Feithrin in Cilgerran, Ceredigion, and spoke (siarad) fluent Welsh (Cymraeg). Now living in New Zealand where she has learned to speak (korero) Te Reo Maori (Maori language) and has a little Maori ancestry, she has woven the two cultures together. Elements of the Welsh tapestry weaving and are stitched into the print, as well as flax weaving symbolizing the kete or basket of knowledge commonly referred to in the Maori culture.
Wales and New Zealand share many marginal situations. Here is a thought for their shared histories related to languages.
Honour-Ring: Circular Print Project, Group Show, 2017
Title: Means of Survival, 2017
Medium: Linocut, collagraph
Edition: 6 prints
Artist Statement:
I honour the life on this planet in its widest sense - all the plants and animals of nature. We humans wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for all the other living things. Each life-form has the genetic makeup that enables survival within the network that links us together and provides for us. We need oxygen in the air we breathe, food for our table and materials for our comfort and protection. Most importantly, the mental and spiritual ease provided by “mother nature” is essential for a healthy and meaningful life.
From the rivers to the shore, Printmaking Project Group Show, 2017
Title of print: Awry, 2017
Medium: linocut, collagraph, chine colle, collage, stitch
Edition: 6 prints
Artist Statement:
The wrybill is the only bird in the world with an asymmetrical beak, hence its name. But, when such an amazing creature reaches “vulnerable” in the IUCN categories of globally threatened species, there is even more that is going “awry”!
Wrybill breed on braided riverbeds and migrate north to harbours such as Manukau and the Firth of Thames. Their population is now down to 3,000 - 3,300 and decreasing. Their distribution is only over 23,000 square kilometres. Their habitat is degrading and introduced predators are depleting their numbers.
Postcard Exchange Project
with printmakers from PressNorth (Townsville), Forestation (Melbourne) and PCANZ members in central region NI. Postcards are an expression of our desire to reach out and connect with others no matter how great the distance or how diverse the landscape and culture.
Across the Ditch, PCANZ Project, 2016
Title of print: Giving Banks the Nod, 2016
Medium: linocut, collagraph
Edition: 6 prints
Common greenhood orchids, Pterostylis genus, on both sides of the Tasman Sea, from photos taken by two sisters, Janis (in NSW) and Diane (in NZ). The Australian nodding greenhood salutes the Banks greenhood in New Zealand.
'Leaving Your Mark', PCANZ Project : 50 Year Collaborative Print 2016
Exhibition Details: NZ AND QUEENSLAND
Palmerston North, Taylor Jensen Gallery, February 2017
Taupo Museum and Art Gallery, August, 2016
Hawera, Lysaght Watt Gallery, August 2016
Whanganui Arts at the Centre (WAC), August 2016
Orewa, Estuary Arts Centre, September 2016
Petone, Alfred Memelink Gallery, September 2016
Napier, Community Arts Napier (CAN), October 2016
Townsville, Gallery 48, September 2016
Cairns, Canopy Gallery, September 2016
50 PCANZ printmakers produced 5 collaborative prints to celebrate the Print Council of Australia (PCA), 50 Years of Print, 2016
Group 4: Evolutionary Forces, 2016
Participating artists:
Lynne Wilburn, Rosalie Thompson, Diane Harries, Julia Ellery, Kathy Reilly, Elle Anderson, John Pusateri, Prue Mac Dougall, Kyla Cresswell
Each group of 10 created a print where each printmaker added a layer and passed it on to the next. I was fourth in my group and added the green vertical woodgrain panel showing white rushes, before the next person added the maroon square of bush.
Gordon Park Series, 2013
Darning the pocket handkerchief
Monoprint, silkscreen, roller frottage, stone lithography, collage, stencil, artist books (hanging framed concertina)
Protecting
Misleading
Fingerprinting
Draining
Vilifying
Species List
Cornering
Remaining
History
The botanical history of Gordon Park Scenic Reserve provides a window on the social changes that have marked the region. European settlers cleared most of the native bush for farmland, and this tiny patch three kilometres east of Whanganui is a rare survivor. The plants there today tell the stories of loss and invasion. Drainage of the area has put kahikatea at risk during drought. Redwood, pine and macrocarpa stumps indicate their recent fall from grace. Paradoxically, the bunya pine nearby, valued as a marker of the original homestead, is Protected Tree #96. Aggressive invasive weeds are being removed by diligent conservationists. Young native seedlings raised from local seed are being planted in the cleared ground. Gradually, a vision of revitalised native bush is becoming a reality – but – can this ideal ever be achieved?
Banks & Solander Series, 2013
The Precious Specimen
Monoprint, lithograph, frottage, stencil, letterpress, collage, Solander boxes.
Landfall
Hautere
Te Moana
And on the seashore
Excelsa
The Cucumber Kind
Solander Boxes
The Precious Specimen
Captain Cook’s Endeavour voyage of 1768 with Joseph Banks’ scientific team included Daniel Solander, botanist, and Sydney Parkinson, botanical artist. My love of adventure travel is strongly linked to a sense of curiosity about natural history, especially botany. For me the 1768 Endeavour voyage creates a sense of longing of a time when there were parts of the world still to be explored by Europeans. It was a time when British gentlemen could indulge their interests in the new scientific paradigm. I am fascinated by the diaries and drawings that were produced on this journey, especially of the flora of New Zealand.
Mezzotint Printmaking, 2012
sea shanty, mezzotint
Unchartered, mezzotint
'In the Frame' Entries for Central Print Council Exhibition, 2012
“Territorial Rights,” woodcut
The notion of road trips and experiencing a journey along state highways to a specific destination underpins this work. Motorised vehicles and man-powered cycles vie for space on limited national road systems. Danger lurks for all parties, especially when the same space is used by both. Designated zones may seem to provide safety for more vulnerable cycle users, but do they truly protect those intrepid peddlers
territorial rights
“Araucaria heterophylla”, woodcut
In a complex world full of dynamic and meaningful imagery it is easy to overlook the charm of some small and relatively inconsequential component; an area that might provide context, but which doesn’t add to the story itself. So it is with this image of foliage depicting a Norfolk Island Pine tree on the Napier seafront. This tree was part of the scene when the earthquake of 1931 decimated the buildings and the military were assigned to clean-up tasks beneath their branches. With ideas of fractal structures and patterns within patterns, this silhouette of only part of the whole tree holds the beauty of nature in its simplicity, while at the same time representing yet another level of finer botanical detail if we chose to look more closely.
As part of a collaborative project with eight other printmakers, the whole image was printed on one sheet, combining all of our styles in one work. The print was completed using a road roller on brown paper. Each wooden plate was A3 in size.
Araucaria heterophylla woodcut
Collaborative print of napier earthquake 1930
'Boundless' Entry for Central Print Council Exhibition of 3D Prints, 2012
Training Wheel
Aluminium lithographs, mouse training wheel, aluminium framework, copper wire.
This work reflects the cyclical nature of the learning process surrounding aluminium plate lithography. Patience and perseverance underpin the repetition inherent in the trial and error method. Inking and printing involve rolling and rotating movements, which are echoed in this 3D interactive structure. Each revolution of the wheel represents further progress along the journey to mastery of this potentially fugitive printmaking technique.