This Quickening

Hand bound book, laser printed text, screen printed cover,
imagery is gouache on tracing paper, hand cut and glued
8 inches by 12 inches closed, 2014
 

Personal project about potential and movement.

Poems ("The Wild Iris" by Louise Gluck, "Scented Herbage of My Breast" by Walt Whitman, and "Progress" by Rainer Maria Rilke) paired with abstract collaged pop-up forms inspired by the poetry.

I created a pop-up artist book about different ways that we experience our potential because I wanted to help define these feelings of potential for myself, and I wanted to support the viewer in thinking about their own relationship with that energy.

First, I selected 3 poems that help articulate different aspects of this energy. “The Wild Iris" by Louise Gluck, talks about the jolt of waking up to one’s potential after a long stasis. "Scented Herbage of My Breast" by Walt Whitman, focuses on the fear and confusion that is possible when one acts out of their raw potential. "Progress" by Rainer Maria Rilke illuminates the peace and expansion that can come from trusting this energy in ourselves. 

Then I paired these poems with abstract collaged forms that are activated by pop-up paper mechanics. And though at first I wasn’t entirely sure why I needed the forms to move, as I progressed through this project I realized a few things. The pop-up images ended up adding a gestural nonverbal layer of communication that offers a fullness of expression beyond that achievable with words, almost like the movement of a dancer. Also, as the viewer moves through the book, they activate the potential movement of the forms into fulfillment which gives a formal manifestation of the subject matter.