Songs My Father Sang Me from "Dear John"

Unearthing more old works. Not sure if this is a sign of resisting to finish my current drawing which has taken me over five months... But it's fun to dig up old works and see them in a different light. This particular work was done over two years from 1998 through 2000 with a year break in the middle. It was created when I was having a personally difficult time in my life. These book pages became my own diary then. Most of them were created while I was at the residencies at MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire and Centrum in Washington from 1998 to 1999.

Dear John \ - jän\ n (ca. 1945) : a letter (as to a soldier) in which a wife asks for a divorce or a girlfriend breaks off an engagement or a friendship.

"Dear John" is comprised of a total of 152 pages from a book called "Stories by Elizabeth Bowen", published in 1959. Each page is painted in watercolor, leaving selected words and sentences visible. Watercolor on book pages mounted on BFK paper. 152 pages. Originally presented in an installation. 1998-2000. 

 

On the skin

While digging up some old works yesterday, I found this series. This series must have been first created... maybe almost ten years ago? Then, the text was added five or six years later... something like that. Mineral pigment and text from old books on Japanese paper. 6"x 6" each. Total of seven drawings. I love using texts from old books.