Standing tall! Cutouts on the folded pages giving glimpses of the unfolding tale…
Pulled off the etching press, monotypes on coffee filters become petals of my story in bloom.
It’s up to me! Sometimes I hold my story in one hand!
Bloomed all the way!
Draped and inserted among the folded pages, my monotypes become the everblooming tale’s multicolored chapters.
Anna Mavromatis (Houston, Texas)
annamavromatis.com
Everblooming Tale
2015
repurposed book/monotypes on coffee filters
Unique work
7 x 12.2 x 12.2”
My works are similar to entries in a personal journal, where instead of written lines, emotions and thoughts are expressed through colors, shapes, gestural markings, folds; Patterns, textures, legends and places associated with my childhood and heritage form the vocabulary and fiber of my “stories”; by superimposing ancient and modern printmaking methods I sculpt, collage, handle paper and turn it into a kosmos where all I need, all I feel, all I want to revisit, re-examine, even forget, find a place to be expressed.
My narrative is often about attempts to re-connect with people, situations, beliefs and roots long lost. It is a quest to revisit unresolved affairs, reach new understandings, bridge the gaps formed by my segmented life spent in different countries around the world.
The use of found objects mirrors my need for holding on to heirloom pieces and my interest to have them present in my surroundings. Even mundane things like packing materials and everyday discarded items become objects of importance, reflecting the mood and aura of the time and place used, becoming part of my palette, thus soon to begin a second life embedded into new works.
Everblooming Tale is a sculptured artists’ book, composed by a repurposed vintage book and monotypes pulled off an etching press on coffee filters, draped and inserted into the book’s folded pages.
I shaped this structure as a flower in bloom, using its organic form as a symbol for my unfolding life tale.
I have associated coffee scent with “family secrets” I overheard as a child, told by grown-ups during their socializing coffee rituals. By applying monotype techniques driven and charged by my thoughts and emotions on coffee filters, I am using this association as a starting point and symbol to the continuous quest for understanding the source of family troubling secrets.
• Vintage book with pages folded, partial cutouts on the folds forming a pattern.
• Monotypes on coffee filters as flower petals
• Digitally generated imagery archival pigment prints on coffee filters lining the (monotype)
petals.
• PVA