Expansive view of open accordion book
Detail of painted image and text
Detail of the box it is housed
CB Sherlock
Minneapolis, MN
Horizontal Grandeur
2011
letterpress printed text, handpainted with rubber rollers on single sheet of paper, folded into accordion
Edition Size: 6 Perfect / 5 nearly perfect
8 pages
Dimensions Open: 15 (H) x 55 (W) inches
Dimensions Closed: 15 (H) x 7 (W) inches, box 16 x 10 inches
Artist Statement
My work is about the threads that connect us: connections to the land, to our past, and to each other. In divided times these are fibers that link us together. As we struggle with why our neighbor voted this way, why someone we love is hated, we remember that we all want the same outcome; prosperity, happiness, success, longevity. Not just for individuals but our communities, our county, our world.
I am a printmaker and book artist. I create small edition books and one of a kind works of art, combining text, imagery, and nontraditional housing. Everything is comfortable to the hand, a pleasure to the eye and a sense of heart for the soul. In making artist books, I am able to use the intimacy, flexibility, the movement thru time, and inter-activeness of the book structure. Multiple techniques are used in the imagery; hand-painted images, painterly printed scenes, or collaged layers of paper, the books themselves are sculptures. Once the pages are printed, painted or collaged, text letterpress printed, they are bound nontraditionally and housed in a container that adds to the whole. All is done with precision, craftsmanship and an understanding of the bigger picture. Some books depart from the traditional feel of a book, others contain familiar format, whatever fits with the concept. All are interactive, to be held, touched, viewed and read.
A book held in one’s hands creates an intimate bond with the viewer. It allows the content to be integrated with their past and their present, creating that “Ah, hah!” moment, leading to a new understanding, new perception, new experience — creating something that will add to the perception of being connected to those around them.
Looking at the world through different eyes, each of us views it in similar ways. Horizontal Grandeur, essay written by Bill Holm, describes the seeing through “prairie eyes”. It is the perfect words relating the feeling of intoxication of the large expanses of the landscape with all the details available. Using the text as part of the imagery, this book encompasses the abounding, organic beauty of the prairie; the wide paper, the tall grasses, and the joyous colors. The text runs horizontally across the 50 inches of the paper, making the viewer move the length of the paper and experience the largeness of the prairie.
Connections: to the land, to our past, to each other. In this divided time, being able to find a bond with whomever and whatever is around us is not only desired but needed. My work is a tender not harsh. It is a look at what brings us together.