2015 MCBA Prize Entries

Marvel Grégoire, “Where I Am – Photo Journey”

Where-I-Am-IMG_2632
Folio enclosure: handmade Cave Paper, red pine bark, vintage button

Where-I-Am-IMG_2620
Folio inside — photogravure etchings, pamphlet, small book with imagery/quotes
Pamphlet contains:
Artist statement and book description
Quotes from small book:
Linus: “My favorite place, I think, is where I am.”
Lao-Tzu: “Just remain in the center watching
And then forget you are there.”
T. S. Eliot: “We have not ceased from exploration
and the end of all our exploring
will be to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time.”

Where-I-Am-IMG_2630
Five photogravure prints of Northern Red Pine, northern Minnesota

Where-I-Am-IMG_2622
Close up of the Northern Red Pine and folio contents

Where-I-Am-IMG_2628
Close-up of the path to the redwood pines and folio cover

 

 
Marvel Grégoire (Minneapolis, MN)

Where I Am – Photo Journey
2014
Photogravure Etchings/Letterpress
Edition of 10
Folio/5 etchings/pamphlet/small book
Folio 20 x 17″/photo etchings 10 x 11″
Folio 10.50 x 11.25″

I am a book artist at MCBA and a tour guide at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a guide I often participate in a Walker program for preschoolers called Arty Pants. On this particular day, I asked Linus, a four year old, what his favorite place was. After some thought, Linus responded, “My favorite place is, I think, where I am.” Such wise words from a youngster, connecting us to the moment, place, and others! So I began thinking about where I was. While I live in the city, I spend a great part of the year in rural northern Minnesota surrounded by nature’s beauty, in particular, the great Northern Red Pine. As Minnesota’s state tree, the red pine is noted for its grandeur, beauty and steadfastness. I have sketched, painted and taken many photos of this tree over the years. It seemed to be the perfect subject for the suite of five photogravure etchings in this book as well as a metaphor for how we live each day, for our relationships to our surroundings and to others, and for how we nurture those relationships. Where I Am is a book about place and identity.

This folio, Where I Am, includes a suite of five photogravure etchings, a small book and a pamphlet. It was designed, printed and assembled by Marvel Grégoire at MCBA, Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2014. The photo etchings were printed from digital photographs on the Conrad etching press, the book and pamphlet on the Vandercook press. Materials include handmade paper from Cave Paper, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Rives BFK, Kozoshi and Hahnemühle Ingres.