Mirror
Niagara Falls, NY: Carol Schwartzott, 1999. Hardcover. Number 3 0f 6 copies signed and numbered by the book artist. This is the last copy available, with none in commerce or at auction. All of Carol's books are beautiful and finely done, with this title being particularly noteworthy for its design and execution. The book artist, Carol Schwartzott, writes about her work: "A book for me is like a journey; along the way the road twists and turns, and sometimes I get lost, but my aim is to arrive at my destination and enjoy the trip along the way. Curiosity, investigation, observation, objects, words or images, intuition, connections and creative application accompany me on my journey. Processes are part of the reason I choose to make books. I love the processes involved in researching, writing, designing, drawing, painting, printing, constructing and binding. Very often, one idea will lead to another, ... My books are assemblages of thoughts, much like the collages I make, layering pieces of fact and fancy, bits of memory, objects mixed and matched, all added (and sometimes subtracted) to explore a theme. It becomes an adventure in searching for connections."
Carol writes about the genesis and creation of this impressively beautiful and elaborate production: "Mirror began as a book to be donated at a benefit auction for the Ithaca School of Art and Music, its theme being 'Mirrors.' I began working and what came instantly to mind was "Alice Through the Looking Glass" and "Snow White"....I started reversing the images and had this idea of using mylar. I kept fingering my beautiful Japanese papers and thinking that they needed to be part of this book...Gradually Alice and Snow White disappeared and my ' Geisha' took their place. By painting over the image I could achieve a transparency Japanese theme also made it want to be simple and understated...presenting the viewer 'a reflection' of beauty using the Japanese print."
Mirror has five sections of folded pages, stitched into an accordion-folded concertina binding. The pages are a combination of mylar, chirogami, paste and fine Japanese paper. The techniques used for type and illustration are inkjet, Xerox, and gocco printing that are altered through cutting and handpainting. The covers are of silver mat-board which is gocco-printed in silver. The images used in the book are Japanese woodcuts of some of the great eighteenth century masters of their color, space, and shape, including Chokosa Eisho,Eishosai Choki, and Kitagawa Utamaro. Bound in metallic gray covers with a geisha image on the front cover and a gray cloth spine. Housed in a pale green cloth dropback box with with a mirror inside on the bottom, with a paper tltle label with a small mirror on the spine. Accompanied with two sheets describing the book's creation and its development. A stunning achievement in fine condition. Measures 6 x 10.25 inches. Unpaginated. ARTB/061325. Fine.
Item #38014
Price: $850.00