Catherine Griffiths

Two weeks ago, we flew to Magandjin Brisbane, for the opening celebration at Griffith University Art Museum of my exhibition »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line«—and, along with director Carrie McCarthy, curator Lizzie Riek and the GUAM team, to meet the ROCK in person. With silvery, hair-like striations and golden touches of organic matter, this upright greywacke beauty is all heft and thrust, the point of reception/trajection, emitting light/energy/love, an orgasm to infinity!!! The rock was one of three beauties found by Lizzie, who went in search on my behalf, somehow heaving the heaviest into the boot of her van, and via photos, tests in situ and online kōrero, it became clear: the epicentre of the string installation. Keen to learn more about the rock’s provenance, Lizzie drove us first to visit the Griffith Archive at the Nathan campus (!), then over to Mt Gravatt only to find the entrance to the campus and The Roundhouse had been fenced off since her visit there two months back, with demolition underway (!!). Unable to enter, the question of provenance hangs over this particular rock: how did it come to be, was it construction material for building on this site back in the sixties, making it an imposter? And now what? Performing a pivotal role in the string installation »Out of Line« with fluoro pink builders line, resting upright on the polished concrete floor of the gallery, the rock holds fast, anchors and activates. 🪨💓 @griffithuniversityartmuseum @culturalflanerie 1/ portrait: @bruceconnew 2/ rock selection: @lizzieriek 3–11/ rock photos, film: @studiocatherine [sound on] #catherinegriffithsoutofline #catherinegriffiths #sceneofthecrime #film

caught on camera »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line« gallery security @griffithuniversityartmuseum 📸 @bruceconnew

A bubbling opening night with an artist talk, welcomed by Lakota Moon and opened by Carrie McCarthy @griffithuniversityartmuseum »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line« … two days left 🪨💓 photos (mostly): Andy Willis / music (most of the way): Yello with Shirley Bassey (1987)

REPOSTED with added 🎶 • @griffithuniversityartmuseum We can’t believe we’re in the final days of ‘Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line’! This exhibition wouldn’t have been possible without our extraordinary team of installers, volunteers and Collections staff, led by our incredible Acting Curator Lizzie Riek and Curatorial & Collections Officers Patrick Lester and Amy Hambleton! A massive thank you to: Adam Cole, Amy Vowles, Andy Willis, Catherine Henley, Dean Ansell, Ellonie Norris, Erin Cauchi, Faith Zbruk, Felicity Bruce, Kayla Holloway, Katelyn Streeter, Mia Gribbin, Rob Corless, Rose Alexander, Jess Douglas. ‘Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line’ is open Monday – Saturday until 16th May 2026! #GriffithUniversityArtMusuem #GriffithUniversity #GUAM #BrisbaneArt #QCAD

»7/7, 14 views« close up, and at distance, the jet black wall painting sits in contrast to a small photograph of »Collidescape« (in actual life a seven metre high glass work) at the light-filled entrance of the gallery [ ] adjacent is »Light Weight O« presented as two framed photographs and a run of six drawings, before a dismantled »E« referencing the steel rod construction of my very first vowel work, »AEIOU, a typo/sound installation« in Cuba Street, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and later elemental (of course being E) as part of »AEIOU—constructed/projected« presented in 2015 at Typojanchi, a biennale in Seoul……. not before »Sound Tracks«, another lengthy wall work, my second in the vowel series which was shown at The Dowse back in 2012, here: three 1:1 details extracted——— let’s stop there for now! One week remaining to view these works and more / »7/7, 14 views« 2023 wall painting, acrylic 558.0 × 385.0 »Collidescape« 2017 (detail) archival pigment print 42.0 × 59.4 cm Photographer: Mitchell Bright »Light Weight O, #1–2« 2018 archival pigment prints 70.0 × 100.0 cm (each) Photographer: David Straight »Light Weight O, drawings for a mirror-faced, brass-backed object, #1–6« 2018 archival pigment prints 59.4 × 84.1 cm (each) »E« 2015 from AEIOU—Constructed/ Projected copper pipe 120.0 × 1.0 cm diameter (each) »Sound Tracks« 2012 (1:1 details) archival pigment prints 60.0 × 30.0 cm (each) / »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line«, Griffith University Art Museum, Magandjin Brisbane, 24 February–16 May 2026. [installation images courtesy of the artist and The Design Gallery, Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. Photos: (2,3,5,6,7,8,11,12) Carl Warner (1,4,9,10,13) @studiocatherine ] @griffithuniversityartmuseum #catherinegriffithsoutofline #studiocatherinegriffiths #catherinegriffiths

a VERY fine shredding! A cool posse of people turned up, as the sun went down, to shred Luxon’s pixelated mug and “infamous” inflammatory quotes [in the guise of type specimen posters by @studiocatherine first shredded as rubbish collected for the exhibition ‘Checkmate’ @commode_commode ]. A big mihi to friends, strangers and passers-by who were able to join in the activation, shredding LIGHT on the subject. We had a blast. And to @lelajacobs , @thekeep__ , @annabella_sbel , @bruceconnew , and @jinkic whose deep dive documentation of the activation will soon be out, for making this happen on the street and in public❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 Meanwhile a few snaps for the mo, spread the love with friends, whānau, anyone and everyone ——> register to VOTE and dismantle this vile coalition!! #shreddedluxonquotes #registertoVOTE #tetiritiōwaitangi

In the distance beyond this irresistibly expressive beauty holding/activating my string installation »Out of Line«, the more formal and contemplative wall work »A whakapapa, two lines of women« runs the full width in repeat, names diverging / \ converging \ / A tiny glimpse into six generations of eldest women, one thread Pākehā, the other Māori, the common tie being Charles Wilson (Wirihana) Hursthouse. Details here show two of his daughters, from his two relationships, each the eldest: my great grandmother, Margaret on one side, and Rangimarie, her much younger half-sister, the other. As the lines converge, I eventually meet my whanaunga, cousin, Te Rongopamamao. Not easy to photograph, but here are a few images, the repeating names flanked by a film »i« one side, and works on paper the other, the concertina in the vitrine references the zig and zag, a rug from the »Club de Conversation Keyhole« series is set adrift on the floor………. Very special to share a few words about this whakapapa (ancestry) story on the evening of the opening to an attentive audience, and with dear friends going back 30 years (!!), given whānau couldn’t be with @bruceconnew and me on this occasion. Arohanui to Aunty Muri and my late father who gave me their blessing to make this work ten years ago 🖤🖤 / Griffith University Art Museum Director: Carrie McCarthy Curator: Lizzie Riek @griffithuniversityartmuseum [»Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line« is curated by Ela Egidy and Megan Patty, first presented in 2025 by the Melbourne School of Design, with the support of the Melbourne Art Book Fair and the Victorian College of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Melbourne] / photos: @studiocatherine installation view (7): Carl Warner floor talk (9): @thinnertheair #catherinegriffithsoutofline #griffithuniversityartmuseum #studiocatherinegriffiths #catherinegriffiths

ROCK [PAPER SCISSORS] STUDY, a workshop with a small group of students ranging across film and media arts, design, psychology, IT, engineering. First they collaborated typographically by working physically with a restricted material palette and at scale (unwittingly making the workshop title, revealed only after taped to the wall!). Then, working independently, and using the same technique, they each examined the characteristics and form of a rock they had found, this time also responding to the exhibition broadsheet upon which they made their ROCK STUDY! I loved how they interpreted and extrapolated in such a short space of time, from the abstract to the pictorial, three dimensional to inversion of form… all by hand—folding, tearing, shredding, cutting, slicing, sculpting, weaving. To the fabulous students who took part with humour, energy, a touch of defiance, and wit, thanks for taking the leap and getting intimate with your rocks. And to Lizzie Rock, I mean Riek, who also joined in, Bruce for the action pics, SCAPE who organised, and GUAM who hosted! 🪨🔎 @griffithuniversityartmuseum @scape_brisbane_events @lizzieriek @culturalflanerie photos: @studiocatherine (1–10) workshop (11–20) @bruceconnew

Works on paper [cont…] »W in Blood« [diptych with fold] sits on a transparent ledge, open-handed behind a transparent pane on the gallery wall at @griffithuniversityartmuseum ♥️♥️ First presented early 2025 as a large wall painting [diptych with void] at Enjoy Contemporary Art Space (@enjoycontemporary ) in »Iterations/Alterations« and then at Te Wai Ngutu Kākā Gallery (@ngutukaakaa ), an even larger wall painting [diptych with void, split] in my solo exhibition »Catherine Griffiths: Walk With Me«, this small work continues to rage at the machine. \\ In Iterations/Alterations, Catherine Griffiths expands upon her past work, W in Black (2017)—two algorithmic compositions, five ‘W’s [in five weights and styles from @muirmcneil ’s typeface TwoPoint] made in support of the Women’s March protesting the inauguration of the US president—with W in Blood (2025), in response to the blood on the hands of world leaders complicit in the Z10 n1$t project. The artist refers to this iteration of the works at Enjoy as a “diptych with void”, referencing the walls standing adjacent to each other with the open space between them acting as a void—a place for visitors to pause for thought. // _______excerpt from Chapter 1 floor sheet, Enjoy Contemporary Art Space »W in Blood« [diptych with fold](2024/2025), archival pigment print, open edition, 260 x 370mm »W in Black« (2017/2024), silk-screen prints, silver ink, Colorplan, edition of 10, 594 x 841mm (each) photos: @studiocatherine #catherinegriffithsoutofline #griffithuniversityartmuseum

Works on paper [cont…] INTO THE EYE OF THE MA(Y)ELSTROM—made when Theresa May took over the Brexit project in July 2016—typeset in Maelstrom Bold from Klim Type Foundry. »The Brexit Series« is a typographic word-play response to events that played out over the weeks, presented in the guise of the “type specimen”, a format I frequently use (see @s_h_r_e_d_d_e_d_ (!) for the latest, more local political protest). Prompted by UK designer Hamish Muir’s (@muirmcneil ) post on Twitter, “The past or the Futura?”, typeset in Futura, I replied with “An Akzidenz Grotesk waiting to happen” (typeset of course, in AG). And STILL, the maelstrom persists, far and beyond the singular and disastrous issue. Other works include a collaborative poster using le cadavre exquis (exquisite corpse) technique. Made in sequence with Paul Sahre (top) and Moana Bilsahson (centre), a fictional participant that Leonardo Sonnoli and I invented (in part my effort to break the domination of white men in the project, and to fill a last minute withdrawal by a well-known Sydney designer), her surname an amalgam of three of the nine participants. I responded in the final section by quoting from a conversation with Leonardo who elaborates on Italian pornstar, TV personality and politician, Anna Moana Rosa Pozzi who died in 1994 (perhaps). Printed offset on Chromolux Alu (also extinct), the project theme was ‘NZ identity’ curated by @leonardosonnoli for TypeSHED11, 2009. And… the 40/3 protest, again in the guise of the type specimen format that I made in 2018 in response to the systemic writing-out of women in Aotearoa’s design history by the Designers Institute of New Zealand. And STILL. The three posters used their flagship Best Design Awards statistics, colours, and typeface Untitled Sans (another from @klim_type_foundry ). caption continued in comments…… / photos: @studiocatherine 3, 6 (opening night): @fromthinairpics 4, 9 (installation views): Carl Warner @griffithuniversityartmuseum

Works on paper make connections, join dots, reference the metaphysical v the physical, chaotic and otherwise, in my exhibition at Griffith University Art Museum ———> »Collidescape«, a drawing (2019), silkscreen print, fluoro pink and silver inks, Hahnemühle »What is my threshold now?« archive of collected hair [artist’s own], steel box, light, shadows cast, numbered paper packets, exposed. (2024), lithograph, black and silver inks, Hahnemühle Copperplate Alongside street poster »www.transitionalfieldwork.co.nz/ Catherine_Griffiths/So_far_a_map_ of_ projects_drawing« (2016) with Rebecca Steedman, and exhibition poster for »catherine Griffiths : SOLO IN [ ] SPACE«, Shanghai (2019), designed with Zhihua Duan. / photos: @studiocatherine (3, 6, 12: Carl Warner) [image credit: »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line« (installation views), Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane, February 2026. Courtesy of the artist and The Design Gallery, Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. Photos: Carl Warner] @griffithuniversityartmuseum

Here in »Out of Line« the rock, a weighted anchor, holding strong, a pivot, equally a point of thrust, ejection, trajection, receiving/emitting………. Greywacke, hair-like striations, found at Mt Gravatt, Magandjin, likely an imposter, brought in as material for building rather than originating from the site—more to be found when we get even closer 🔎🪨 / [image credit: »Catherine Griffiths: Out of Line« (installation views), Griffith University Art Museum, Brisbane, February 2026. Courtesy of the artist and The Design Gallery, Melbourne School of Design, Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne. Photos: Carl Warner] @griffithuniversityartmuseum