Beautiful Horrific
The Beautiful Horrific traveled to six venues with the Guild of Book Workers Triennial Exhibition - Wild/LIFE from June 2021 to September 2022. Thank you to jurors Denise Carbone, Erin Fletcher and Jessica Spring.
The Beautiful Horrific was made in response to the Covid 19 pandemic during ‘stay at home’ orders beginning in March of 2020. I constructed the blank journal from materials that I had at home, with a pair of unused leather lined oak book covers and a dis-bound map book. I work in a non linear way, tying stories to related map pages and allowing myself to reflect freely. Both horror and hope are expressed through drawing, collage and print. As time goes by, the artist book expands to include current events and sometimes even politics. I have found that even on the worst days, when it’s hard to concentrate and be creative, text drawings become a form of meditation.
This book stayed with me for the year 2020 and though the pandemic is far from over, I felt I needed to set it free. It is currently traveling as part of the Guild of Book Workers exhibition, Wild/LIFE.
Ethiopian binding with quarter sawn oak covers lined with leather, commercially printed atlas pages, Pigma pen, pen and India ink, Acryla gouache, collage and linoleum block print, 2020
