GAIL'S CONTRIBUTION TO PAM'S BOOK



Pam's book entitled "Retablo of Resistance"challenged me to complete eight signatures, which consist of two pages folded in half using all sides. After selecting my center page from an assortment of pre-made papers supplied, the journey began. Her theme was very close to mine in that resistance and resilience takes you to the same place, survival!

The page I selected was about the freedom and the necessity to vote, so apropos leading up to the November 3rd 2020 election. I printed BLACK LIVES MATTER on black paper and collaged it diagonally across the page.  I also added 2020, VOTE, and WOKE with adhesive black letters and VOILA! done.



The cover and back pages were much more complicated. Using another transparent gel medium mask, I superimposed fragments of mono prints, metallic papers and Adinkra symbols. The symbols were cut away from the mono print paper with an exacto-knife, leaving an empty space, while creating a relief affect. This technique has become a new way of working for me, as this book project has encouraged me to push the boundaries of possibilities on a small scale, which I hope will be useful later on a larger scale.



On the right side of the next page I repeated part of the mask, while superimposing a statement from my artists book: "We Wear the Mask" inspired by a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar.  The statement reads as follows: The wearing of mask in our History can be attributed to the creation of American culture as we know it today. What we couldn't show on our faces poured out in our music, dance, poetry, visual art, etc. Creative expression was our saving grace, as it fulfilled two important tasks...it produced an outlet preventing one from imploding and it created a vehicle by which we were able to hold on tight to our connections to our home land. On the left I collaged the crocodile with the word resilience down it's spine.


On the final set of pages, to the right is the crocodile drawn over the letterpress statement that is an important feature in my artist book. My use of the trusty crocodile symbolize the epitome of resilience, as they live in the water, yet breathe in the air.... In this image I chose to only shade and design the negative space leaving the crocodile blank with just the text. The image on the left is a mono print featuring a mask in the center with two fertility dolls on each side of the mask.













 

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