Shyness

[Melbourne: the artist],  2013.

Artist’s book. Edition 2/3, signed, titled and dated 2013 in pencil. Handmade red cloth-covered boards measuring 105 x 85 mm with concertinafold rag paper fastened to the boards, hand-stitched with linocut illustrations of leaves and overlaid with further linocut designs. When opened, the book can either be extended in linear fashion or folded back upon itself to produce a wheel or star. The artwork deliberately conceals decorative elements from instant view to reflect the themes of veiling and concealment and the pursuit of beauty.  This complex paper construction is meticulously executed by hand and housed in a folding card box with string ties.

Elizabeth Banfield was born in the U.K. in 1963 and arrived in Australia in 1966. She received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree from the University of South Australia in 1984, majoring in printmaking. From a series of initial student exhibitions in Adelaide in the 1980s she went on to exhibit in national printmaking exhibitions in Melbourne, Adelaide, and New South Wales. Her print commission for the Print Council of Australia in 2010 quickly sold out, and she was a finalist at the important Libris Awards (Australian Artist Book Prize) at Artspace Mackay in 2013. Banfield is represented in various gallery collections including Burnie Regional Art Gallery, Monash University, South Australian School of Art, Tweed River Art Gallery and the Print Council of Australia. She is also represented in the artist book collection of the State Library of Queensland.