Weathered surfaces, old cracks and peeling paint.
Inner west print artist captures the places we live and love.
Artist Maggie Stein is a quiet presence in the inner west. You might see her on her bicycle turning right off King St into Alice St and wonder — who is that? Do I know her?
She could be wearing a spotted bike helmet, a colourful print dress over print leggings, a vintage cardi, with that calm beauty and all-seeing gaze hidden behind her quite classy glasses.
You might see her and not even notice but let me tell you she is everywhere and noticing everything!
For those who don’t know her, Maggie Stein is a lino print artist based in Marrickville, Sydney, Australia. She’s originally a country girl, born and raised in Goulburn and at the age of 8 or 9 loved drawing pictures on the back of envelopes. Her kind older sister (recognizing her talent) bought her a sketchbook and some crayons and it all started from there.
In high school she lucked out with some good art teachers including one Ms Anna Eglitis (still going at 90) who did things like packing all the kids up into her ute and taking them to see a play in town. Ms Eglitis gave Maggie the message loud and clear that life is what you make it.
Maggie’s mother died of cancer when she was thirteen and by sixteen she had decided the creative arts was for her. She liked how making art allowed her to disappear from things for a while, like she did as a young girl lying in bed getting lost in the patterns of the plaster rose on the ceiling.
And at school she used to stare out the window in maths — it’s a dead giveaway she wasn’t going into science.
She didn’t arrive at art school until she was 22, and turned up in her well-curated army disposal look adorned with aboriginal flag patches. (Mmm, definitely not a mathematician). There she immersed herself in every kind of art making, including printmaking and etching (becoming one of the few people actually qualified to use the old etchings pick up line!)
But printmaking it seems, stole her heart and she was good at it. She won the print making prize at art school (COFA) and other prizes followed.
Being the sensible person she is, she went on to do a Dip Ed (so she could actually make a living and not starve in a garret) and a Dip Etching (now she was seriously qualified to use that pick up line and she did. In 1987 while manning the same Wilderness Society stall at a local market she met her partner John and they soon had three kids : Fabe, Milly and Broughton (all grown up now). They are great supporters of her work, in kind as well as mind — Fabe helped hang the latest show, Broughton manned the bar, John was in charge of sales.
Maggie has been in numerous group shows but decided a while back to get in the routine of having a solo every two years. This is her third solo show and I have to agree with Maggie and the title of her show that she is definitely ‘On a Roll’.
I love what Maggie says in the artist statement about the process of her work.
“ I’m drawn to weathered surfaces of older buildings, grand or modest and the energy they embody. Train tracks and paths of any kind have featured heavily in my dreams and I interpret them as metaphors for our life journey and opportunities for transformation.The more I develop I get a sense that my marks are a personal nuanced language, at times I’m conscious of choosing a mark and at other times that mark chooses me. Discovering a ‘fresh’ mark is like an infusion of energy into any piece.”
There’s something about sensual texturalism of the works that gives me a great sense of comfort. The same feeling I get when looking at the great Japanese woodblock artists or our own Ethel Spowers and Margaret Preston.
When I asked Maggie how she creates her images she told me —
“Everyday I walk or cycle past the same places and it’s as if the image grows on me. I love the textures, the lived surfaces, I love peeling paint and cracks. I like that nature is close to us, closer than we think. I print by hand so it is quite physical and when I’m working — making each mark — it’s a meditation and I feel spiritually moved by the process.”
The wonderful thing for us locals is that Maggie Stein’s prints celebrate the places we live and love.
And I didn’t say live in, because what I mean is — like Maggie we live these ordinary places every day, and maybe it’s not until we see Maggie’s work that we realise how much we love them too. With all their cracks and peeling paint, their faded beauty and ugliness, their facades of hidden history — of triumph, failure, tragedy, resilience.
These are our loved and lived places and spaces — for the time being anyway…
I thank Maggie for bringing them back to us.
Maggie’s show On a Roll is over but you can view and purchase her work at maggiestein.com.au Maggie also runs workshops, info on the website.
View her lino cut vid on YouTube here
Jan Cornall is a writer/performer/teacher who mentors writers and leads international writing workshops and retreats. The words above were part of a speech she gave at Maggie’s recent opening at Gallery 371.
Heading out next
November 1–7, 2018. Bali Residency. Seven days just to write! At a beachside hacienda with inhouse mentors and feedback from fellow authors.
March 1–15, 2019. Moroccan Caravan,A creative adventure into the heart of Moroccan culture. Tangier, Chefchaouen, Fes, Tissardmine. For artists and writers.
Oct 6–12, 2019.Haiku Walking In Japan, A haiku walking tour for artists and writers along the sacred Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage route following ancient trails though deep, forested valleys in remote countryside.
