Local Presenters - Queensland Bookbinders' Guild

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Bind23 is proud to welcome our binders, curators,

restorers and book artists from around Australia.

Dr Caren Florance

Presentation Topic: We have ventured into a bookish outer space - The Artist Books of the Wayzgoose Press

Famous for its prickly and highly defensive approach to its output and legacy, The Wayzgoose Press (Michael Hudson and Jadwiga Jarvis) was determined to be a classic private press. Already skilled artists, Hudson and Jarvis developed their printing and binding skills to a high level, and aimed to preserve a level of tradition and quality that they considered to be endangered by cultural obliteration. They hand-printed broadsides, books, pamphlets and even their own postage stickers. Their 22 book editions always included a designer binding as the jewel in the crown. Initially their publications used 'worthy' texts from Australian and European history until they discovered a love for contemporary Australian performance poetry that completely shifted their production trajectory into book arts territory. In this illustrated presentation I will trace their shift of focus to unpack the material and conceptual differences between traditional book-making and artist book production.

Presenter Profile

Dr Caren Florance is an artist, writer and academic. For many years she taught book arts and letterpress as a sessional instructor at the ANU School of Art & Design, and within Visual Communications at the University of Canberra (UC). She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the UC Centre for Creative and Cultural Research. In 2021 she became the executor for the Wayzgoose Press estate. She has presented and published a number of papers about artist book activity and history and is an international peer reviewer for the UK journal The Blue Notebook (University of West England). Her personal practice is deeply collaborative and ranges from digital outputs to traditional letterpress, mostly using the book format. Her work is collected across Australia and overseas, mostly by libraries. Her letterpress studio, Ampersand Duck, is currently in storage and should be operational in its new home in Bega, NSW, in 2024.

Social media: Instagram @ampersandduck (this is dedicated to her creative practice), and she is one of the administrators of the Codex Antipodes Facebook page.

Robin Tait

Presentation Topic: An approach to partial spine rebacking

When repairing old volumes particularly 18^th century flexible bindings, retaining the original binding materials while replacing or inserting replacement materials can be a considerable challenge. The usual method of doing this follows the standard sequence of steps for covering a spine with leather and either a full or partial reback/repair. While doing a turn-in at a head or tail of a spine on a hollow back book there is an even chance of getting the turn-in smooth and fold free as it can be checked and repeated if necessary. The flexible binding turn-in requires adhesive (usually paste on both sides of the turn-in leather) and can prove fiddly to get into place, being required to adhere to itself, the spine and endband, and the boards under the endpapers.

This presentation/demonstration will show how this process is broken into manageable steps using “reverse engineering” and how this can minimise the damage to original fragile binding materials adjacent to the new repairs.

Presenter Profile
Robin Tait is a specialist book conservator and hand bookbinder and has operated the Tait Bindery, since 1986.

Robin trained in London at the then Camberwell School of Art and Crafts in hand bookbinding funded by a Rotary International Foundation Scholarship. In 1984 Robin was awarded an Australia Council Visual Arts Board scholarship to do further study in hand bookbinding and book conservation with James Brockman – a Master Bookbinder in Oxford. Robin graduated from Canberra University with a degree in Applied Science specializing in Paper Conservation in 1986 and completed further postgraduate studies in Art Authentication at Melbourne University in 2007.

The Tait Bindery offers specialist conservation services for old and rare books as well as the conservation of works of art on paper. Additionally the Bindery offers mentoring to conservation students and specialist workshops on a variety of bookbinding and conservation topics for bookbinders and conservators alike.

Robin has also worked within the conservation departments of a number of Australia’s public institutions – including the Australian War Memorial, the Queensland State Library, the National Museum of Australia, ArtLab Australia and the National Library of Australia.

Robin operates the Tait Bindery as an independent specialist Book and Paper Conservation studio for both public and private clients. The studio is based on the Darling Downs outside Toowoomba, in Queensland.

Joy Tonkin

Presentation Topic: Limp Leather Medieval Binding

Joy will demonstrate a technique for a Limp Leather Medieval binding. The sections are sewn onto leather tapes which are woven into the board leather. Ties or tacketts hold the corners. The technique can be used for a variety of purposes including photo albums, journals and artist’s sketch books.

Presenter Profile

Joy came to bookbinding in the early 1990s. She is a graduate of the University of Canberra in book and paper conservation and has studied in Ascona in Switzerland, Belgium and Italy. Joy and John run a book bindings business in Canberra. They specialize in conservation and restoration of rare books, works of art on paper, and one-off fine designer bindings. Joy has a passion for miniature books using the handsome wooden equipment made by Frank Wiesner of Toowoomba. “The use of such beautiful miniature pieces – the sewing frame, the plough, the press, heighten the artistic process of making miniatures.

Joy is an experienced teacher and offers a range of instruction in the book arts. She exhibits nationally and internationally and her work can be seen in many international and private collections.

Lauren Turton

Presentation Topic: Why focus on artist book practice?

Responding to the provocation, why focus on artist book practice, Artspace Mackay Curator Lauren Turton will trace the history of the Artspace’s artists’ book collection, overviewing highlights of winning works over eight iterations of winners from the Libris Awards, National Artists’ Book Prize as well as recent acquisitions focus. Lauren will speak about the unique development of this regional institution’s focus on this art form which commenced with acquisition of works by the Lyre Bird Press in the late 1980s.

Presenter Profile

Lauren Turton is the Curator at Artspace Mackay responsible for overseeing management of the gallery exhibition program and art collection. She holds a Masters of Arts Administration (Curating and Cultural Leadership) from the University of New South Wales in 2014 with a focus thesis on regional arts programming.

Having grown up in a regional area, one of Lauren’s key career goals is to strengthen cultural communities and ensure galleries are accessible for all audiences. She has worked in numerous arts organisations in Sydney, regional New South Wales and now Queensland. In 2017 Lauren relocated to Mackay for the role of Assistant Curator, moving into a senior curatorial role in 2019. She is currently Secretary at Crossroad Arts, an all-ability arts access organisation based in Mackay.