This time

This book is an exploration of an artist’s subjectivity. It reflects Bea Maddock’s thoughts on the privilege of being an artist and having an ongoing practice, because of the space this affords for the asking and answering of questions.

This is Maddock’s first book, developed from a poem she wrote in 1964; the opening words ‘The rain beats from me and the tree the leaves’ came to her as she was walking down St Kilda Road on a rainy day after being rejected from a job she had applied for. The late 1960s was a difficult period for Maddock who had moved from Tasmania to Melbourne with the ambition of getting a job at one of the art schools there - not just for income to support herself as an artist, but also to secure a studio space.

The poem evolved into this book - printed and editioned at the National Gallery School in Melbourne (Victorian College of the Arts), where Maddock was to become an influential teacher in the 1970s, known for her experimentation in printmaking, especially photo etching and photo screen printing.