Accordion book fully opened
Clamshell box with monotype image recessed into cover
Clamshell box opened to title page of accordion book
Clamshell box opened to mid-point of accordion book
Detail of accordion book, middle four panels
Valerie Carrigan (North Adams, MA)
valeriecarrigan.com
In Between
2013
Accordion Book with monotype images and letterpress-printed cover and colophon, housed in a clamshell box.
Unique work
10 pages
13″ x 54″ open
13″ x 8″ closed
Liminality is an intermediate state, phase, or condition. The latin origin of the word is Limen, meaning a threshold. “Crossing the threshold” is a phrase that holds many meanings, but most often refers to taking a significant step forward and into a new phase, perhaps having overcome some obstacle along the way; and now entering into the final stage of something with new clarity. When we are at the midpoint of a transition, or crossing the threshold into a new experience, we are in a liminal state.
In Between marks these moments. It marks the space between having departed but not yet arrived. The birds in this book soar, sprint, and dive, at times encircled and at other times, freed. We are not unlike the birds in this book. We cross thresholds, big and small, throughout our lifetimes, often not knowing what lies ahead. We hover in between here and there, now and then, today and tomorrow.
In Between is an accordion book comprised of ten original monotypes hinged with Japanese paper. The monotypes are made by rolling a flat of black etching ink onto a sheet of Plexiglas. Through the use of subtractive processes, (namely the wiping away of ink to reveal different subtleties in value), images are conjured out of the darkness. Stencils in the shapes of birds, bones, and circles are cut from Duralar, inked and wiped individually, then placed carefully onto the inked plate with tweezers before sending the plate through the etching press with a sheet of dampened Rives BFK. I have chosen the accordion structure to allow these images to move unfettered across the page.