Joe Monteleone, 60, has been an artist for only five years. His major new linocut for the City of Melbourne took more than 800 hours
’ll let Joe Monteleone introduce himself to you, because he has his way: “My name is Joe. I’m deafblind,” he signs. “I was born deaf, and in my 30s I found out I had Usher syndrome, type one. You canand what that means. Everyone who has Usher has varying degrees of vision. I have tunnel vision during the day, but at night-time I’m fully blind. I can’t see at all.”
He paints his lino pieces black so he can see where he is carving more easily, then perches at an architect’s table. He wears a special pair of glasses with a light attached, which improves his vision a little, and a brace on his wrist, to keep it straight and prevent injury.works I had loved so much, and spent about 60 hours making each one.
“There are only going to be three editions sold,” he signs. “I’m not sure if the Guardian would like to purchase one, but I am just putting it out there!”During Covid, he worked relentlessly on his Flinders Street linocut “as I’ve been isolated at home. It was very tiring – I did take breaks, but mainly because I am so fussy and I like to get things right.”
When he first began studying art, he found he didn’t love painting and drawing: “I can’t feel it, it is for the eyes. Linocutting is more tactile.” One of his guides took him to the National Gallery of Victoria, to show him some linocuts by MC Escher. “I just fell in love. I thought it was absolutely amazing. The lighting wasn’t great in the gallery, so I used my phone torch to have a look.
Joe’s favourite work is the print with three figures walking up a steep incline . It is inspired by his experience walking the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea in 2019.One of his first linocuts, a tearful eye over a river, is an expression of his feelings about being deafblind. “Not to complain, but you are hearing,” he says to me. “You can drive. You can listen to the radio. You can talk to anybody – you can just meet someone and have a chat. You can watch TV.
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