For More is More,Melbourne artist Tai Snaith presents two series of 3 separate framed collage works which playfully look at different aspects of the creative female psyche.

The first series of smaller square works is called ‘Ladies of Leisure’ and comes from Snaith thinking about free time and how we chose to spend it. In an ideal world, we would all have more time to be Ladies of Leisure, focusing on things like friendship, self-reflection and conversations. These three works act as aspirational reminders for Snaith, a kind of meditation on priorities of how her spare time might be best spent.

As an artist I collect a broad range of things both two dimensional and 3 dimensional. Generally, I am drawn to books, both what is inside them and their covers. I also obsessively collect old glass marbles and fragments of porcelain, which end up in my sculptural assemblages. I have hundreds of books I glean for images to use in collage, which is quite a personal practice for me and which I rarely exhibit. Usually these are books on women in history, old Readers Digests, old art magazine from the 50’s-70’s and Encyclopedias on plants and the Natural World. Generally, my work from the past 5 years has revolved around books. In my large assemblage and photographic works (such as the recent commission ‘Open Book’ for the State Library of Victoria) my work uses actual open books as the base of the image. I also write and illustrate picture books, with my 5^th title having just been released this year.

[portrait image credit: Eugene Hyland]