Printer in Residence 2023: Mickie Quick

Printer in Residence 2022: Caren Florance

Printer in Residence 2019: Barbara Campbell

With an extensive creative practice spanning printmaking, performance, bookmaking and concept-driven enquiry, Barbara Campbell took up residency in the Piscator Press workshop during Semester 2, 2019.

Her project ‘A Bird is in the Library’ brought together her passion for print techniques, text, libraries, and birds. It engaged with library users in an imaginative journey via letterpress and the architecture of the library and its systems.

Barbara’s prints adorned the wall of the library, alerting to the non-human presence of a variety of native birds. The book she created during her residency can now be found in the Library’s Rare Books Collection: Bird voices : from A field guide to Australian birds volume 2: Passerines. Peter Slater. Adelaide : Rigby, 1974.

Printer in Residence 2018: Wendy Murray

Wendy is a Sydney-based artist and arts educator with extensive experience in letterpress printing. Her work addresses social and political issues through poster making and book arts.

During her 8-week residency at the Piscator Press, Wendy truly brought our Level 1 print workshop back to life. Using letterpress and digital printing processes, Wendy produced an edition of 80 copies of Sydney - we need to talk, a collection of short, accessible explorations of the politics of urbanisation. Authored by a multi-disciplinary team of University of Sydney scholars, the book was launched as part of the 5th Festival of Urbanism in September 2018. As well as using the Library's Albion presses and type collections, Wendy's design drew upon the historic publications of the Piscator Press that are now held in Rare Books & Special Collections.

Of this project, Wendy writes 'This illustrated book is an experiment with collaborative short-form writing. Each co-authored piece involves a dialogue between people and places. Sydney is the central character in each essay, as each author is Sydney based - we draw from our research and experiences in our city. And, each essay goes somewhere else: Sydney meets another city'.

Find out more about Wendy's residency on her website and Instagram.

Exhibition - Piscator Press : past and present

From Tuesday 14 August 2018
Level 1 exhibition space, Fisher Library (opposite printing press room and news room)

A display of historic materials from the Piscator Press, alongside work by Wendy Murray, our 2018 Printer in Residence.