“This is what an old lady used to say:
‘My mind is like the lace I am making: There are many knots, and even more holes there. It looks beautiful from the distance but messy when looked at from too close. – I don’t want to remember. I want to forget, and keep things forgotten.'”
This is the beginning of the fictional story, written by the artist, that you can find in “Old Lace”. The main text in the book outlines the life of a lace maker. Small and big horrors in her life are stated in a simplistic language that sounds dispatched, naive and emotionless. This scarcity of the narrative gives the reader space for imagination and the full horror of the events unfold in the viewer’s phantasy.
In hidden compartments the reader can find the inner voice of the protagonist, small comments about how she felt, or a picture that adds to the text, and to the story. They represent details which the lacemaker remembers but doesn’t want to remember and keeps silent about.
materials and techniques
The structure of the book is a modified winged book. The main story can be read by keeping the book block together and leafing through it like usual (similar experience to looking at a leporello). The secret compartments, however, can only be opened when the book is stretched out, so that more of the pages become visible.
Materials include: Paper, gesso acrylic paint, carrier sheet, pigment ink, acrylic image transfer from old photocopies and block print.
edition
This is a one-of-a-kind book. However, there exists another version of this book which shares the text and some of the artwork, as well as the general structure.
The first version was made as part of an art swap and has beeen given away.
£190 (contact me for details)
