The Stony Rises Project

Marion Manifold

Marion Manifold is a printmaker and has a PhD which explores identity and female body imaging. She has received many awards including the prestigious Shell Fremantle Print Award 2001, the Silk Cut Acquisitive Award 2008, and the Geelong Print Acquisitive Award 2008. She was awarded the Australia Council for the Arts Paris Residency 2008, and has participated in other residencies, including the Print Council of Australia and RMIT Summer Residency in 2005. Marion was born in Melbourne but has lived in regional Victoria for the last 35 years. She has an extensive exhibition history, including the solo exhibitions Of Essence and Lace Trimmings 2003 at Fremantle Arts Centre in Western Australia, Exquisite 2006 at Warrnambool Art Gallery, Victoria, and Sub Rosa 2001 at Glen Eira Gallery, Melbourne. Her work is held in the National Gallery of Australia and major public collections across Australia and overseas. 

Interview

Why did you choose to be involved in The Stony Rises Project? And what is your connection to the Western District area of Victoria?

Living in the Stony Rises for over 30 years, I felt I could bring some local knowledge and personal understanding of the land and its people to the Project. Being a part of the Manifold family – the earliest European explorers and pioneers to this area – and living in one of the original homesteads which still has its complete intact heritage, I also felt I could give insights to early colonial life.

Did you have any preconceived ideas or plans for your work before embarking on the artists’ camp?

As I have a fairly intimate understanding of the Stony Rises, and I have previously been working on ancestral memories and female identities in this landscape, I did have some ideas about what I would create. For the Project I reinterpret Walter Wither’s 6 murals in Purrumbete homestead, evoking the women of the Manifold family. My art adds objects, photos and letters from the Manifold homestead linking the work to my personal history and identity.

These prints follow other work in this manner – Rosy dreams from the verandah of Purrumbete, 2006 and Spring: Purrumbete from across the lake, 2006 which also deal with my family heritage and reinterpret the work by colonial artist Eugene Von Guerard. These prints are part of the National Gallery of Australia collection. But I was also excited to extend my understanding of the Stony Rises through living and travelling with other artists to hear their diverse readings of this land.

How would you describe your artistic practice from concept to making?

Much is known about the male pioneers and settlers on the land – their images are portrayed in books, paintings, and written word, but too little is known about the women pioneers.
Living in an original family homestead I am surrounded by and live the history of this land. Ideas and decorative idioms from the Manifold history permeate into my art on an everyday basis. I feel the presence of the women who came before me, as I am the fifth Marion Manifold in this Victorian family.

I sense the stories of the past and convey these thoughts to images with layers of meaning and time.

What is it about the Western Districts that inspired you?

The people of the past, their many layered stories, and the natural and cultural landscape – the volcanic cones, the natural rocky barriers, the stone walls, houses, domestic objects, and even the tombstones – inspire me.

What did you hope to capture in your work?

I aim to capture the essence of past women in the land.

Is this your usual practice or did the project bring about a new direction?

The Project fitted into my usual practice, and it allowed me to continue my exploration of a colonial feminine essence via the women of the Manifold family.

The Stony Rises Project

A NETS Victoria Touring Exhibition developed by the RMIT Design Research Institute. Curators: Lisa Byrne, Professor Harriet Edquist and Associate Professor Laurene Vaughan

Presented by: