I have been producing artist books for several decades and many are in national and international collections. My artist books take on many different forms, from a sixteen metre concertina book to miniature books and a boxed set of playing cards. Most contain images responding to prose, parables or poems I have written.
Dianne Longley - Illumination Press - chronological listing
Linked by Destiny (2023) : A Love Story – in twelve parts (2022) : Remember to Die, Remember to Live (2008) : Theatre of Embarkation (2008) : Threads drawn from the past, towards a digital future… (2005) : Curious and Fantastic Creatures (2005) : Contingent Ambiguity (2002) : Apperception, a symbolic narrative (second edition, 2001) : Cats, Cakes, Clothes and Cups (1999) : Sensory Memorandum (1998) : Compass of Change (1996) : The Golden Rose (1995) : Night Sea Crossing (1994) : A Passage Illuminated (1992) : Aberrant Observance (1989) : Quest (1989) : Deanin’s Dreams (1981) : The Glass Ball (1978) :
Books and Folios
Linked by Destiny (2023)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Linked by Destiny
Medium: 18 pages, concertina artist book in box, black concertina structure, handmade paper covered covers, foil prints from magnesium plates made by Dacelo Engraving, Melbourne and letterpress prints from photopolymer plates printed on Velata Incisioni 220gsm paper. Boxes made by Neville Daniel.
Size: box 13 x 10.3 x 3 cm, book open 11.5 x 9 x 166.5 cm.
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2023
Brief Description: ‘Linked by Destiny’, a concertina book with phrases of letterpress text printed from photopolymer plates, and line drawings foil printed from magnesium plates. Detail line drawings have been printed in a range of metallic foils. The title, ‘Linked by Destiny’ has origins in the ‘Witcher’ series written by Andrzej Sapkowski, “People linked by destiny will always find each other”. In art and alchemy inevitable attractions and chemical reactions propel one on a journey towards an individual destination.
Remember to Die, Remember to Live (2008)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Remember to Die, Remember to Live
Medium: 17 pages, concertina artist book made with inkjet prints on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 188gsm paper
Size: book closed 21 x 21 x 1.5 cm, book open 21 x 378 cm
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2008
Brief Description: This concertina book was a reconfiguration of a hand-printed folio Contingent Ambiguity (2002). An image of Gloria Swanson, photographed in 1924 through a veil of lace by American photographer Edward Steichen, was the starting point for the self-portrait works. The images in this concertina book are inkjet printed from digital files with synergies to the original hand-printed folio images in Contingent Ambiguity.
Threads drawn from the past, towards a digital future... (2005)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Threads drawn from the past, towards a digital future…
Medium: This artist book is a combination of postcards with images and stories, family artifacts and miscellaneous family documents in a small suitcase.
Size: suitcase closed 17.5 x 8 x 3 cm.
Edition of 6: signed and numbered, 2005
Brief Description: The set of postcards (unlike the pages in a traditional book) resemble a deck of cards that have no prescribed order. They can be shuffled and read in randomly created sequences. The non-linear nature of memory is referenced in the website with a chequerboard of links to random stories. Chronology is dispensed with, and unlike a printed book, stories can be added to the website, as forgotten memories resurface over time.
Contingent Ambiguity (2002)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Contingent Ambiguity
Medium: 15 printed pages, folio of hand printed polymergravure and chine collé prints, with letterpress text essay and colophon; printed glassine interleaves
Size: folio box 39 x 38 x 2 cm
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2002
Brief Description: An image of Gloria Swanson, photographed through a veil of lace by American photographer Edward Steichen in 1924, was the starting point for the self-portrait works in Contingent Ambiguity. I wanted to explore personal realities revealed via our journey through life, universal human experiences such as the unfolding of our individuality, our links with past and future generations, and meditations on death and nothingness.
Apperception, a symbolic narrative (2001)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Apperception, a symbolic narrative
Medium: 23 pages, artist book with folded pages, 8 etchings printed intaglio, multi-coloured, onto Japanese Awa paper, letterpress text in magenta, some letterpress pages printedain combination lead type with relief photopolymer plates, pages interleaved with glassine paper, bound in maroon with gold lettering by Anthony Zammit
Size: slipcase 31 x 23 x 2 cm, book 30 x 22.5 cm
Edition of 30 : second edition, signed and numbered, 2001
Brief Description: This book is a metaphysical quest within which the opposing forces of intuition and the intellect collide, with an eventual reconciliation where each is able to complement the other. The text and image pages are folded, the inner book being Japanese in form, bound in a Western book structure with slipcase.
Sensory Memorandum (1998)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Sensory Memorandum
Medium: 32 pages, digital images inkjet printed onto Epson Photo Quality paper and Glama Natural translucent paper, essay laser printed onto 118gsm Pageantry White paper, title and end pages relief printed from photopolymer plate onto Rives BFK 180 gsm paper, magenta buckram cover with gold text.
Size: book 22 x 26 x 1 cm
Edition of 30 : signed and numbered, 1998
Brief Description: Sensory Memorandum began as a meditation on living in a world increasingly dominated by information technology and developed into a personal exploration of what constitutes a large part of our existence, our senses. The book incorporates overlays to blend one page into the next. The images are interspersed with personal experiences or recollections. Text on some pages was interwoven into images to add a literal element to the images.
Compass of Change (1996)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Compass of Change
Medium: 70 pages, concertina book printed with a Novajet printer from a digital file, with Japanese paper wraparound chemise and slipcase, and dark blue reconstituted leather book covers, binding by Anthony Zammit
Size: slipcase 33.5 x 23.5 x 3.5 cm, book open 32 x 1540 cm
Edition of 4 : signed and numbered, 1996
Brief Description: Artists through history have used new technologies available to them. This book incorporates electronic media techniques combined with traditional symbolic references. The sources for the symbolic references were an archive of previous images, as well as diverse source material which has been incorporated and altered. The text consists of a long poem written by the artist laying out her hopes and beliefs. A visual and emotional tour de force, this work was a tying together of ideas and images from the preceding decade.
The Golden Rose (1995)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: The Golden Rose
Medium: 20 pages, 10 photopolymer prints relief-printed and hand-coloured, on Velin Arches 300gsm paper, 10 pages of text photocopied onto glassine overlays, booklet of 12 pages, folio in purple buckram with gold text.
Size: folio slipcase 54.5 x 40 x 2 cm, prints 53.5 x 39.3 cm
Edition of 16: signed and numbered, 1995
Brief Description: The Golden Rose folio was the first to use photopolymer plates. Utilising digital files, the complex though subtle images illuminate stages of life through the language of flowers. From the ‘Dog Rose’, to the ‘Peace Rose’, traditional symbolism is combined with personal symbolism to produce surreal, almost religious images. The folio is evocative of the discipline and silence found in medieval books of hours.
Night Sea Crossing (1994)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Night Sea Crossing
Medium: 31 pages, book with laser-printed images on Archive Text Laid 120gsm paper and transparency film. The original 9 images were hand-drawn onto scraperboard, scanned and manipulated to create two related, but separate layered images. Binding in green-black buckram with silver text.
Size: book 21.5 x 30.5 x 1 cm
Edition of 30 : signed and numbered, 1994
Brief Description: Night Sea Crossing is a reminiscence of what is lost over the course of a life and what is gained. This work is a ‘leave taking’; an opportunity to take a breath, to take stock, and consider the journey so far. By the shore of a river, vignettes from life are played out, showing most recent memories first and distant ones at journey’s end. This sequence of images is a reflection of the journey between life and death.
A Passage Illuminated (1992)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: A Passage Illuminated
Medium: 18 pages, artist book with 8 etchings printed in dark blue ink, and 10 relief printed text pages printed in dark purple ink from etched zinc, onto Japanese Hodomura paper, Japanese book binding, with blue embossed Japanese paper book covers and gold screenprinted lettering. Endpapers screenprinted with studio logo pattern and dusted iwth gold mica powder.
Size: book 20.5 x 26 x 5 cm
Edition of 40 : signed and numbered, 1992
Brief Description: A Passage Illuminated unfolds in rhyming couplets, the parable of an un named girl who falls into the underworld of existence. The accompanying images suggest an existential computer game where self-actualistion is the end prize. The central character moves through the various scenes encountering totmeic animals, along with archetypes such as the Trickster and the Samlet, (two symbolic figures that appear in many of books and prints).
Aberrant Observance (1989)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Aberrant Observance
Medium: 11 sheets, folio made with lithographic prints on Magnani Pescia 200gsm paper, with screenprinted text, bound in black buckram with cream lettering by The Dene Bindery.
Size: folio slipcase 40 x 29 x 1.5 cm, folio sheets 39 x 29 cm
Edition of 16: signed and numbered, 1989
Brief Description: Aberrant Observance employs symbolic language of text and image to describe stages of a metaphysical quest. The images respond to the notion of life as a journey, and to what is possible and what is inevitable. The theatre-like series of images suggest that life is a strange play. As a play has a beginning and an end, in Aberrant Observance, the culmination is self-knowledge.
Deanin's Dreams (1981)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Deanin‘s Dreams
Medium: 32 pages, text hand-written and offset printed, 10 etchings with hand-colouring, all pages printed on Velin Arches 200gsm paper, book and slipcase in dark blue buckram with silver lettering.
Size: slipcase 30 x 22 x 2 cm, book pages 29 x 22 cm
Edition of 25 : signed and numbered, 1981
Brief Description: Deanin’s Dreams was inspired by an interest in Cabalistic mysticism, ritual magic and dream symbolism. It involves a sleeping Deanin, wose dreams are gradually unravelled by a mysterious Prince. The story achieves its resolution through the characters’ active participation in the world of dreams. The apparent playful abstractions and the accompanying images belie their structured composition.
The Glass Ball (1978)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: The Glass Ball
Medium: 23 pages, book with offset printed hand-written text, 8 etchings printed in sepia on Velin Cuve 175gsm paper, bound in dark brown buckram with gold lettering.
Size: book 26.5 x 21.5 x 1.5 cm, pages 26.5 x 21 cm
Edition of 20 : signed and numbered, 1978
Brief Description: The Glass Ball is a narrative complemented by abstract and highly symbolic images. Within a Jungian framework, we discover the story of a lonely child who, having discovered a magic clearing in the woods, embarks upon a journey of awakening and self awareness. This is the beginning of work based around the concept of ‘self’ and ‘individuation’.
Miniature books
Theatre of Embarkation
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Theatre of Embarkation
Medium: 9 pages, concertina artist book in wooden box, book made with Barcham Green handmade paper, inkjet prints on Ilford Galerie paper
Size: box 11 x 8 x 3cm, book open 9.5 x 72cm
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2008
Brief Description: The images in Theatre of Embarkation were originally created as gouache paintings on vellum for a concertina book in 1986.
The original images were scanned and used to create a new, miniature, editioned book.
Curious and Fantastic Creatures
Dianne Longley – Title of Book:Curious and Fantastic Creatures
Medium: 12 pages, concertina artist book made with inkjet prints on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 188gsm paper
Size: box 9.5 x 9 x 3cm, folded book 8 x 7 x 1.5cm, open book 8 x 84 cm
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2005
Brief Description: This small concertina book explores curious and weirdly fascinating creatures which cross time zones and cultural origins; the Renaissance historia animalium of Conrad Gesner, humorous figures from 16th century artist François Rabelais, contemporary Japanese ‘kawaii’, pop-imagination figures and toys, and grotesque imagery through history.
Quest
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Quest
Medium: 8 pages, concertina artist book made with drypoint prints on Velin Cuve Rives 250gsm paper, hand-colouring, letraset text, black and gold check Japanese paper covers. Boxes made by Banksia Bindery, and then decorated with gold leaf.
Size: box 10.5 x 7.5 x 2cm, book open 9 x 60cm
Edition of 8 : signed and numbered, 1989
Brief Description: Quest is a miniature book incorporating symbolism to describe stages of a metaphysical quest. The images respond to the notion of life as a journey, and to what is possible and what is inevitable.
Booklets
Sweet Monsters and ScallyWags (2023)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Sweet Monsters and ScallyWags
Medium: 28 page booklet printed by CMYK Colour Online Melbourne, printed on 150gsm matt-satin paper with hand-printed letterpress cover on 150gsm Van Gelder paper
Size: 15 x 21 cm
Edition of 30: signed and numbered, 2023
Brief Description: This small booklet contains essays by Chris Reid and Deborah Prior, and images of a diverse range of artworks by Longley from 2004-13.
A Love Story - in twelve parts (2022)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: A Love Story – in twelve parts
Medium: 32 page booklet printed on Pageantry Text Porcelain 118gsm paper, cover hand-printed letterpress from a photopolymer plate.
Size: book 21 x 15 x .5 cm, book open 30 x 21 cm
Unlimited edition : signed and numbered, 2022
Brief Description: A Love Story – in twelve parts is both personal and universal. The influences of Shaw’s favourite author Kurt Vonnegut, as well as his most referenced philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche are present in his writing. Shaw was born on April 1, 1963. He died on April 23, 2010.
Unique, Unusual and Curious
Chance & Changes
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Chance & Changes
Medium: Miniature heart-shaped tin, miniature booklets with unique text, laser printed on Strathmore Wove Ivory 90gsm paper, book covers decorative paper from India, self-adhesive decals on tin and book cover laser printed and die cut
Size: heart-shaped tin 6 x 6 x 3 cm, folded book 4 x 3.7 x .5 cm, open book 4 x 27.5 cm
Unlimited edition: signed and numbered, 2023
Brief Description: The miniature booklets Chance & Changes each offer a different phrase reflecting on life and how we might connect with our future by reflecting upon a chance engagement with these words. Each booklet has a unique phrase. You get to participate in a ‘lucky dip’ where you don’t know what phrase will be offered to you.
Cats, Cakes, Clothes and Cups (1999)
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Cats, Cakes, Clothes and Cups
Medium: boxed set of inkjet printed playing cards, booklet and a silk playing card table cover
Size: box 21.5 x 16 x 4 cm, playing cards 9 x 6 cm, silk playing card table cover 41 x 39cm, and booklet 20 pages, 20 x 13.5 cm, box made by Anthony Zammit, booklet and playing cards by the artist
Edition of 8 : signed and numbered, 1999
Brief Description: This intriging set of inkjet printed playing cards features suits inspired by the artist’s favourite things. Female friends are included as court cards. This boxed set of cards was inspired by the artist’s visit to an historic playing card factory in Belgium in 1990. The booklet lists each card in the suits, and there is a story about the inspiration for each suit, as well as a brief history of playing cards in the west.
Keeper of Imagined Landscapes and Sweet Monsters
Dianne Longley – Title of Book: Keeper of Imagined Landscapes and Sweet Monsters
Medium: 12 pages, concertina artist book made with inkjet prints on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 188gsm paper
Size: box 9.5 x 9 x 3cm, folded book 8 x 7 x 1.5cm, open book 8 x 84 cm
Edition of 12: signed and numbered, 2005
Brief Description: This small concertina book explores curious and weirdly fascinating creatures which cross time zones and cultural origins; the Renaissance historia animalium of Conrad Gesner, humorous figures from 16th century artist François Rabelais, contemporary Japanese ‘kawaii’, pop-imagination figures and toys, and grotesque imagery through history.