The Marin Museum of Contemporary Art will be having a big fundraiser featuring altered books. Artists were invited to donate work in which they made or altered books in some way. I chose to create a new, handmade art book. It is titled “Dualities”, and opens from either side to reveal abstract paintings which fold out, accordion style. If opened from the blue cover, each page can be turned sequentially (each is a section of the cool color abstract painting) or it can be unfolded to reveal the entire piece. When you close the book, the last page is the cover for the warm color side. This can then be opened in the same manner.
The warm and cool colored abstract paintings are just a metaphor for dualities in general, which can be found on so many different levels. Color is the most useful tool I have in expressing complex philosophical ideas that may be hard to put into words. I always consider the balance of complementary and analogous colors in my paintings, so this two-sided piece seemed like a natural art book for me to create.
At first, I was planning to do something to alter an old used book. Nothing came to me, however. Finally, the idea of making my own art book based on color abstractions floated into my head just before I fell asleep one night. The details of making the accordion, two sided painting with two covers coalesced on subsequent nights. When it came to putting the physical object together after the paintings were both completed, I realized it would be more difficult than I had thought. I finally got all figured out – but the actual construction took much longer than the paintings themselves.
Sorry about the format of the first paragraph. I can’t find a way to change it! Ugh.