Birthmark
Artist's Book
c1992 (published)
c1992 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
In this work artist Lisa Corinne Davis uses lino-cut self-portraits to explore the notion of female African American identity.
The portraits are printed in soft browns on heavily textured wheat chaff paper with neatly hand-torn edges. Nine of the twelve loose leaves have been darkly over-printed with images of women taken from the realms of art history; for example, Botticelli's Venus, a Rembrandt woman, Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland, and an Aboriginal figure.
As with much of Davis' work, 'Birthmark' suggests that notions of race and femaleness form ever-changing complex layers within an individual's personality and cannot be easily pinned down.
Three of the leaves are over-printed with poems by Simon Perchik. The book's covering boards are made from thick corrugated card, again hand-torn and stained with ink.
The whole package, designed by A.S.C. Rower, is bound together with a length of rough baling twine which adds to the overall organic feel of the work and a pervasive earthiness suggestive of womanly fecundity.
NAL copy is no. 57 in an edition of 150, signed by the artist, author and designer.
The portraits are printed in soft browns on heavily textured wheat chaff paper with neatly hand-torn edges. Nine of the twelve loose leaves have been darkly over-printed with images of women taken from the realms of art history; for example, Botticelli's Venus, a Rembrandt woman, Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland, and an Aboriginal figure.
As with much of Davis' work, 'Birthmark' suggests that notions of race and femaleness form ever-changing complex layers within an individual's personality and cannot be easily pinned down.
Three of the leaves are over-printed with poems by Simon Perchik. The book's covering boards are made from thick corrugated card, again hand-torn and stained with ink.
The whole package, designed by A.S.C. Rower, is bound together with a length of rough baling twine which adds to the overall organic feel of the work and a pervasive earthiness suggestive of womanly fecundity.
NAL copy is no. 57 in an edition of 150, signed by the artist, author and designer.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Birthmark (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | Double corregated boards, hand- torn, stained with ink. Inside are 12 linoleum cuts, printed, heavyweight hand-made Indian rag and wheat chaff paper with torn edges. |
| Brief description | Artist's book, 'Birthmark' by Simon Perchik, Lisa Corinne Davis and A.S.C. Rower, Flockophobic Press, New York, 1992 |
| Physical description | Nine of the twelve oversized pages of self-portraits are overlaid with historically significant object-images of women; three pages are over-printed with text. Each portrait floods the hand-torn page with large areas of muted color. Double corregated acid-free boards are hand-torn to expose the corregation then stained with ink. Inside are 12 linoleum cuts printed with over-images on heavyweight hand-made Indian rag and wheat chaff paper with torn edges. "Each page is two colors. A total of 9 similar-value inks are printed on straw colored paper. The three poems are Neuland type. 'Birthmark' is silkscreened onto the cover. The whole is held together with bailing twine" - Publisher's catalogue, Limited edition of 150 copies signed by artist, poet and designer. 12 pages |
| Dimensions |
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| Summary | In this work artist Lisa Corinne Davis uses lino-cut self-portraits to explore the notion of female African American identity. The portraits are printed in soft browns on heavily textured wheat chaff paper with neatly hand-torn edges. Nine of the twelve loose leaves have been darkly over-printed with images of women taken from the realms of art history; for example, Botticelli's Venus, a Rembrandt woman, Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland, and an Aboriginal figure. As with much of Davis' work, 'Birthmark' suggests that notions of race and femaleness form ever-changing complex layers within an individual's personality and cannot be easily pinned down. Three of the leaves are over-printed with poems by Simon Perchik. The book's covering boards are made from thick corrugated card, again hand-torn and stained with ink. The whole package, designed by A.S.C. Rower, is bound together with a length of rough baling twine which adds to the overall organic feel of the work and a pervasive earthiness suggestive of womanly fecundity. NAL copy is no. 57 in an edition of 150, signed by the artist, author and designer. |
| Other number | X930017 - NAL Pressmark |
| Collection | |
| Library number | 38041993100452 |
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| Record created | February 21, 2014 |
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