Spirits

As I mentioned in my last post, Seth Apter asked the contributing artists to create two pieces for his book, a self-portrait, and the other had to be a visual response to a question that he posed.


The question he posed to me was: What is your current obsession?

And this book art piece was my response:


Title: “Spirits”
Media: plaster, inkjet prints, encaustic, string
2010


This was my written response:

Right now I am obsessed with incorporating encaustic with paper, and more specifically book art. The combination of wax and paper is really beautiful as the paper absorbs the wax and becomes translucent if the paper is thin. You can also create 3-dimensional forms with paper and wax. There are just so many possibilities, it is exciting to experiment with! This piece I created, “Spirits” was created using plaster, paper and encaustic and is meant to hang like a mobile.

This piece has very personal meaning for me and it is one of those pieces that all just kind of came together in both form and meaning at the very end. The words are from a journal entry I wrote in 1998 when I was reflecting on the 4 year anniversary of my sister's death. I wrote:


Sometimes i think that the wind is more than just currents of air
it is the spirits of those i've known and even others of my own unknown
spirits reminding me of their presence and the impermanence of life

That morning of her 4 year anniversary, I remember walking through campus (my senior year in college) and I was thinking of my sister and a huge gust of wind blew around me and with it fallen leaves lifted into that air and danced all around my long skirt. Then they flew up at least 5 feet into the air continuing its intricate dance. I'll never forget it.

Perhaps it was just a regular old gust of wind, but perhaps not. I'll always think of it as her spirit giving me a playful embrace.




This book hangs from a rafter in my studio and at times it sways and twirls with the passing breezes that raft through. Light filters through the wax encased images, setting off a soft glow.

Form + Meaning. One of the magical things that can happen with book art.