West
7.5″ x 6.75″ A collaged book exploring the settling of the west. The cover is patinaed copper and leather. The pages are Canson mi tiens and paste paper with collage, graphite, colored pencil and copper foil. Made in Santa Fe, NM.
Gulf Coast
14.5″ x 9.5″ x 3.5 closed, 14.5″ x 19″ x 2.5″ open Each year I make a piece for the Altars + Icons Benefit Auction at the New Art Center in Newton, MA. The hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast, where I grew up, was in my thoughts as this portable “altar” was constructed.
Labeling Women
6″ x 5″ book, 40 pages Mixed media collage covered with marbled paper and silk spine. Created when I was a Visiting Artist at The American Academy in Rome, Labeling Women uses a variety of window and door frames cut from a piece of decorative paper to reveal glimpses of women selected from the art of Rome. They are “labeled”, correctly and incorrectly, with terms used to refer to women including sister, mother, mistress, dame, etc.See eight additional books created while in Rome.
Fasnacht
7.5″ x 6″ Mixed media colleged book with black leather cover, metal and red cord. Ephemera gathered at the 2005 Basel (Switzerland) Fasnacht celebration, a Protestant carnival. Viola Kaumlen shows photographs and gives a history of the Basler Fasnacht.
Milagros
3″ x 2″ x 1″ closed 3″ x 24″ open A concertina of old milagros attached to Arches black cover with glue, wire and string. The mirrored metal box was found in Santa Fe. Milagro is Spanish for miracle – the small metal objects are often nailed to crosses or placed in churches as requests or offerings.
Bingo
5.5″ x 4.5″ closed 5.5 ” x 27.5″ open A concertina of old bingo cards altered with silver leaf, metal, red and black paper and paint. The leatherette covered traveling box houses the concertina and the spinner.