Artists' Books & Sculptural Works on Paper
The series "Absence/Presence: Drawing from Grief" prompted work beyond paint and canvas. The first piece manifested itself as an artists' book with pages made from tar paper. Specifically, 15W Warrior "roofing felt" and a couple of cherry panels scavenged from my husband's woodshop. I began by tearing long strips of the sticky black paper with a screwdriver and folding them into 15 bundles or "signatures" that were subsequently sewn with linen bookbinder's thread into concertina folds with exposed bands made from synthetic cords. The first book Absent was followed by a second, Present which utilized the same cherry panels but with a beautiful Arches' Lavis Fidelus paper. The contrast was deliberate--the dark and sticky felt representing loss and the pure curls of the Arches representing the gift of time. Absent's "entrails" were added later to emphasize the weight and trauma felt after a great shock. (One viewer read Absent as a funereal guest book--that's not far off the mark. By contrast, Present's "curls" mimic curling ribbon and weightlessness as when a soul departs a body.
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Constellation is an interactive piece inviting viewers to remove a booklet and reflect on a personal loss. Donations benefit suicide prevention & survivor support. Each removal of a booklets reveals a pair of stars.
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