Redaer's Art 12: Jamie Weaver

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home


Jamie Weaver

West Virginia in Quilts recalls my childhood memories of growing up in rural Appalachia.  My family has long been involved with folk arts and crafts, and I was encouraged to explore these creative outlets both at home and in school.  Looking back, I realize that much emphasis was placed on West Virginia as a center for Appalachian crafts and tourism, and larger issues affecting the state, like mountaintop removal and rampant meth use, were swept under the rug.  When I was in school, we weren’t taught how to be socially, financially, and environmentally loyal to our state – we were told that to be successful adults, we’d probably have to move out of state.  So, with West Virginia in Quilts, I wanted to use a traditional Appalachian craft, quilting, to bring awareness to more serious issues affecting West Virginia. 

            I chose an accordion fold structure so that the book unfolds and spreads out like a quilt.  The title of the book works on a couple of levels:  It is a glimpse of West Virginia through beautiful quilt patterns, and it is also a state in quilts, or covered from view.  Since the truth rarely remains hidden, I let the ugliness underneath peek through the quilts on the surface; when the quilt unfolds, the whole story is revealed.  The front and back are covered with handmade paper that reminds me of quilt batting.

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home
March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Jennifer Vignone

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home   Jennifer Vignone

Fall 2011

Kitakata, Gampi, encaustic, linoleum cut, gold leaf, pencil, original text, ink, nails, wood. 

Following is the text of the book.

"Let me die," he says. 
He is yelling it at Mom,
at the nurse, there in his room, 
at me at the long end of the phone 
and at God -- hovering, 
as he'd like to hover, 
freed from his stagnant frame.
"I'm old and want to die in peace."
All the yelling doesn't seem peaceful 
but I know it is what he wants.

We had to remove the gun and knives 
after we caught him with 
the .22 in his mouth. 
Were his hands too arthritic 
as he fumbled for the trigger? 
Or was he, even then, 
thinking it over?
I wondered what it would have been, 
over the phone, to hear the silence after the blast?

"Why didn't I find you on the floor?"she demanded. 
He had threatened to throw himself 
from the bed in an effort 
to kill himself.

In the delicately gnarled strands 
of their life together, 
they felt out the hereafter. 
Mom negotiated the exit 
as he struggled in his unresponsive shell.

Their conversation was peppered 
with allusions to the great beyond.
Its smell was in the air. 
She said to him, ìI thought you'd 
be more of a man," 
in the way he dealt with age 
and what followed.

I think of the time that I cannot grasp.
And what if I could, 
but grasped the wrong moment?
Mother. Father. A woman and a man, 
in time, and running out of time.

A flicker of light suddenly blinding gold and yellow 
and white in hand-to-hand combat with Darkness. 
A bird wing glide suspends briefly before free-fall.
Are there miracles?

I'd never understood the things 
that seemed so important to him -
ancient not-working timepieces, 
tie clips, old radios that he described 
as brand new, his Hathaway shirts 
with their three-hole buttons - until now. 
These were the things he had to offer 
after so many years. These were his legacy, 
not of typical fortune, but of a life.

I have an image of him in my head 
from a photograph of him
as a young man, before knowing my mother. 
She sits now by his side and holds his hand. 
She dials me with her free hand 
and rasps into the phone. 
He sleeps and when he wakes, he gasps. 
I think he is surprised to find himself still here.

Rich laughter chimed like 
heavy glass but I couldn't tell 
what caused such a sound. 
Spirals held me enthralled, 
rapt, terrified. 
I wandered about, 
hoping not to burst, 
but not afraid to die.

Will I, in my final moment,
hear my own thud? 

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home

March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Judith Strom

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home  

Judith Strom- This book is an exploration of our acreage here in Montana.  All the materials for book except the thread for binding & stitching and the computer inks came from our property as did the images.  The paper is handmade from yucca.

As with most of my work this piece grows out of my love of the natural world and most especially the beauty of our home here in Montana.

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home
March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Marilyn Stablein

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home

Marilyn Stablein - An ongoing series of artist books Notions and Accessories explores an artist’s whimsical narrative history of needlework, notions, and women’s antique fashion and fabric accessories.  By utilizing actual found antique objects I hope to honor and celebrate everyday women’s historical tools and handiwork. Current completed artist books in this series include works devoted to The Bias Tape, Needles, vintage Handkerchiefs, and vintage nylon stockings and a stocking bag.


Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home 
March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Esther Smith

 
Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home   Esther Smith




Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home
March 12- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Claire Siepser

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home   Claire Siepser

Choices :

This artist’s book is a personal exploration of reproductive choice. With the numerous and intense political messages and brash facts and figures, sometimes it becomes difficult to see the intensely personal nature of the choices we make about our bodies. Despite all the political rhetoric, it remains taboo to speak about reproduction in most circles.

This book acts as a place of calm reflection about the choices I have made and why I feel strongly about women's rights. I have deep convictions regarding my own body but, despite these convictions, this issue makes each of us deeply vulnerable. I decided that I should create a piece that made me deeply vulnerable and shared my difficult trek towards being positive about my reproductive life. I wanted to share my vulnerability with the world in the hopes that it might speak to other individuals trying to make their way in the world.

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home
March 16- April 26, 2012

Reader's Art 12: Elizabeth Schendel

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home   Elizabeth Schendel- I have always enjoyed looking through my family’s collection of photographs and listening to the stories that have been passed down and told over and over again, and I recently realized that my family’s stories are significant to me not just for what I can learn about the past, but also for the new perspective that I can take on the present. My grandparents’ stories provide insight into their character, into my parents’ lives, and even into myself, as I see their influence on the family and also learn about what influenced them.  Even the family stories that I am not personally aware of have influenced how I view myself and understand the world.  Because of this recognition of both the textual and visual narrative influence, my work makes use of found texts and photographs, as well as original imagery, to create pieces that, while of a personal nature for myself, create a space for viewers to create and consider their own narratives.

Reader's Art 12: Longing for Home

March 16- April 26, 2012