March To Art: Narratives – A New Exhibition
The Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM) is holding their annual exhibition of art by veterans and family members, March to Art. The theme for 2019 is ‘Narratives’. The exhibition runs from 23 April until 12 May at the No Vacancy Gallery in the Queen Victoria Building in Melbourne.
I was honoured to be invited to submit my reduction linocut prints ‘You are here’ and ‘Grazing’. I am one of 14 artists, including WW2 Veteran and prominent Australian painter Guy Warren.
‘You are here‘ is a 13 layer hand printed limited edition reduction linocut print. Click here to see how the layers unfolded as I printed this piece.
‘Grazing’ is a 10 layer hand printed limited edition reduction linocut print. I am still to share the layers and process for this print. I’ll update this post when the article has been posted.
Bruce Copeland curates the exhibition each year. Working with both Bruce and Tanja Johnston, Head of Arts Programs, was an absolute pleasure. I feel proud to have been asked to participate; and I feel especially proud to be the wife of a Veteran.
For the show, I was asked “What is your story about being a … relative of a veteran?“. This was my response:
I am the wife of a medically retired veteran. My husband did 10 years in the army and 10 years with the AFP. He now lives with and works to manage PTSD and other mental health conditions, with some physical injuries. We both live and work with his PTSD. I love him beyond words, and am proud to be his wife. That doesn’t detract from the fact though the PTSD is like an unwelcome third person in our marriage; but if the option of not having PTSD in my life meant not having him, there is no trade off. My arts practice gives me respite from the unpredictable world of PTSD. For that I am grateful. Ironically, without my husband and his PTSD, my current arts practice would be only a fragment of what it is now.
March to Art: Narratives
2019’s March to Art: Narratives draws on the “belief that veteran artists belong to a creative tradition of storytelling emanating from their encounter with some aspect of historical or contemporary military service. Whether a story is personal and never told before – or part of a long-standing narrative from national military heritage – veteran artists today are uniquely placed to inherit creative veteran traditions and express their own stories to all generations.”
March to Art: Narratives Exhibiting Artists
- Guy Warren AM
- Rosslyn Braithwaite
- Cassandra Brooker
- Craig Rohse
- Jonathon Telcher
- Su Baker AM
- Rory Cushnahan
- James Farquharson
- Barham Ferguson
- Kim Herringe
- Freya Jobbins
- Karen McFadzen
- Ben Pullin
- Rowan Story AM RFD
Exhibition Information
Dates: 23 April – 12 May 2019
Venue: No Vacancy Gallery, Queen Victoria Building 34-40 Jane Bell Lane, Melbourne
Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12pm-6pm and Saturday-Sunday 12pm-5pm
Previous March to Art exhibitions
March to Art: Identity, the inaugural exhibition in 2017. In this exhibition, Veteran artists were invited to “redefine community perceptions of our new generation of veterans and engage the arts as a mechanism to explore identity. The inaugural exhibition for the Australian National Veterans Art Museum was a celebration of all veteran artists, their creativity and the role of arts in recovery.”
March to Art: Community in 2018. Veteran artists represented service with the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force. They gave their service in Vietnam, Afghanistan, East Timor and Border Protection operations.
About ANVAM
The Australian National Veterans Arts Museum (ANVAM) was established in 2013. It was born from the identified need for new and innovative approaches to the wellbeing of our Veterans through community based arts programs. The organisation supports current and former service members and their families. ANVAM helps to embrace and celebrate the rich art history of the Australian Defence force through times of war and peace.
It was wonderful to have Kim’s work in this years March to Art exhibition. This was the first time a partner of a veteran has been represented in an ANVAM exhibition to represent her own narrative on behalf of all partners of veterans.
It has also been unusual to have prints in ANVAM exhibitions and it was terrific to have two veteran artists present their narrative in prints this year. Kim’s two reduction prints are stunning examples of this technique. We look forward to seeing other veteran artists explore printmaking for the wonderful world of possibilities it offers.
Thank you Kim for entrusting your work and your story to ANVAM for the exhibition. We look forward to watching you develop your practice in the years and decades to come.
warm regards
Mark
ANVAM Chairman & Director
Mark, and ANVAM, thank you! It was an absolute pleasure to have been invited to participate in such a special exhibition. Printmaking is my passion, and I love to share the craft. It is exciting to see it slowly growing in popularity. Australian artist Margaret Preston taught shell-shocked WW1 veterans printmaking (along with basket-weaving and ceramics). She also married a gunner from the Australian Imperial Force. Printmaking is such a process based art form – meditative and therapeutic in its own right. Really any art is good for the soul, be it as the artist creating or individual experiencing it. Thank you ANVAM for being the champion of arts in the Veteran community. Kim Hodge (nee Herringe)