Bill Taylor trained as an architect and scholar who writes about buildings and the people who live in them. Born in New Orleans he has lived in Fremantle since arriving in Australia several decades ago, trading familiarity with the wetlands of Louisiana for fascination with the arid landscapes and places of Western Australia. His journey with printmaking has been shaped by the practices of architectural delineation as well as the art of science and botany. Bill’s ‘Ghost Gums’ series was inspired by the history of botanical illustration as well as experiences closer to home.

Three mature eucalypts appear in Bill’s front yard. It should be said they ‘appear’ rather than ‘stand’ or ‘grow’ because it’s not clear why they are there, but they shadow our domestic lives in unexpected ways. An arborist once determined they were not an indigenous species, not native to WA anyway. In this regard, their journey to Fremantle is like many people’s migration to this country, largely contingent and questionable. How the trees appeared here is not at all clear. However, they make their presence known daily and seasonally with ever-changing shade, but also with large quantities of leaf litter, wind-blown bark, gumnuts and flowers. This time of year, particularly, shreds of bark appear everywhere: underfoot, in the house…even inside the washing machine.

‘Ghost Gums’ registers the remains and details of this shadowing. The series incorporates ‘ghost’ prints to provide a nuanced view of these details as the plate’s ink disappears through successive runs through the press – like the yearly lives of the trees that are marked by the organic debris they leave behind.