The King

[Melbourne : the artist, 2018]. Artist’s book (280 x 185 mm). Quarto, pp. [24], printed letterpress with photopolymer prints and photocopy, wraparound band. Published by the artist in an edition of 7 signed and numbered copies.

“We drifted through a private museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Our host, its curator and collector, shadowed us as we wandered through the dust-covered Bedouin necklaces, rings and coins, shelves bursting with Arabian coffee pots and copper vessels, skull-shaped ashtrays and toy tin trucks, a pelt of an Arabian wildcat, cheetah or was it leopard, weaponry, guns and knives; until we saw the portrait. The glittering picture, surrounded by an elaborate gilt frame, was an image of the King. His face, sitting on a ground of the darkest black velvet, had been dotted into existence in a dazzling arrangement of pearls.

The King was made in response to a time I spent working in Saudi Arabia as part of a Capacity Building in Art and Design Project conducted between Princess Nora bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh and Monash University, Melbourne over three visits 2013-2015. The image was of King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who was King of Saudi Arabia from 1964 to 1975.” – artist’s statement

Collections : State Library of Queensland and private collections.