Traversing Ancient Lands 2024

120 x 49 cm steel etching on Gampi water colour mono print on arches BFK pencil (cotton stitching Dominique Coffait) Printed at Swan River Print Studio by the artist

Like so many artists before her, Jo Darvall feels a gentle guiding hand pulling her toward the You Yangs, just west of Melbourne Wadawurrung Country. What is it about these quiet hills usually just passed by, that draws in generations of artists such as Danilla Vasillief, Fred Williams, Rick Amor and now, Darvall?
In this series she returns to her roots, re-investigating the granite rocks and scrubland, the rising domes on a flat plain that drew her attention all those years ago as a student. Darvall looks outward from it’s peaks and inward, both literally and metaphorically. Solid rock forms sit side by side with her signature marks of tree trunks and scrub that dance on an indistinct plain. The conversation shifts between vague memory and the here and now, between printed assertions and painted songs.

Listening to Trees 2024 Blue A, B and C 45 x 56 cm_oil on canvas

Hydrosphere 2023 enquiries contact Fox Galleries Melbourne

Hydrosphere is the name of artist Jo Davall’s solo exhibition of monoprints and ceramic vessels. Darvall’s joyful prints meditate on the cycle of the lotus flower, which returns to murky water each evening, only to open its blooms again at the break of day, reborn. The exhibition includes the launch of an artist book which combines Darvall’s artwork with poetry written by Yann Toussaint, who will provide readings during the show.

Artist Jo Darvall is based in Walyalup Fremantle WA. She completed the works on a residency (shared with artists Stephen Eastaugh and Carolina Furco) at Lancaster Press in Fiji in June 2023. Darvall also used this government funded opportunity to create the handmade book of lithographs printed with Master Printmaker Peter Lancaster and a graduate from Tamarind in New Mexico, Emma Sattler. This limited edition (of 15 books) are bound with Masi, a handmade paper made from a small spindly tree from the mulberry tree family. With other residency artist Eastaugh, Darvall purchased the Masi following a private ceremony with the local chief. Separate artworks were created as gifts and given to the local chief of the area to thank him for this privilege. Some artwork in the book depicts some areas in Fiji that are significant to local people. At the end of the residency, Darvall donated a copy of the book Hydrosphere to the Museum Director Sipiriano Nemani for the people of Fiji.

Yann Toussaint is a poet and writer based on Minang country in WA. His collaboration with Darvall began when she invited him to respond to her artwork in the language of poetry, and Toussaint’s words beautifully complement and augment the essence of Darvall’s work. Given the ecological impacts of climate change, this exhibition and companion book seek to prompt attentiveness to the cycles, rhythms and wisdom of the natural world.

Darvall and Toussaint’s 32-page handmade book will be launched at the opening of the exhibition at the Fox Gallery in Melbourne 2023. Toussaint will perform expanded verses from the poetry in the book. Hydrosphere will be shown and launched at Fox Galleries Nagar-go|Fitzroy, Naarm| Melbourne Australia, on the traditional country of the Kulin Nation, on Thursday 28 September 2023. Poetry Performance: Yann Toussaint, Saturday 30 September, 2:30pm. Artist Talks, Sunday 31 September 2:30pm.

Sea Sings Lumen Winged Realm a group exhibition with Martin King, Clare Humphreys, poetry by Jann Toussaint. Albany Town Hall Gallery Western Australia,

Winged Realm Dark Sea : Group Exhibition Fox Galleries Melbourne .

https://foxgalleries.com.au/group-exhibition-morning-bell/

Reciting Poems Beside the Lotus Pond No.9 2022, watercolour on Arches paper 29 x 38 cm

Artforum Gallery Singapore and AAF November 2022

Unique States considers different states and the many meanings of the idea of the ‘unique state’. It refers to a print making technique, to states of being, societal and environmental states and to our geographical state. The past three years have launched humanity into ‘unique states’ and Western Australia has become even more of a ‘unique state’ because of its position apart from the rest of Australia and the world. Unique States presents political and environmental realities, as much as flights of fancy, taking viewers through a variety of unique states via the medium of print.

ARTISTS

Susanna Castleden, Jo Darvall, Valdene Diprose, Clyde McGIll, Harvey Mullen, Sue Starken, Elmari Steyn, Perdita Phillips

Boranup Forest A -2 2002 68 x 88 cm unique work on paper with pastle and pencil

Summer 2021 Winged Realm Diptych