•• 2012 THIRD PLACE WINNER ••

LETTERPRESS ERASURE
Letterpress printed via pressure printing, blind embossing, reduction linoleum block, photopolymer plates, various relief surfaces, and metal type.
11.5 x 7.25"
Edition of 20

Letterpress Erasure utilizes the process of letterpress printing to erase an existing text. On each page, a single block of type has been erased on the press by one of several reductive or additive methods. The visuals of this artist’s book are a tour of color and technique; the text is a commentary on the erasure poetics movement and erasure as both a creative, destructive, and collaborative act.

 

HISTORIC AND MEMORABLE TREES OF IOWA
Letterpress printed with handset metal type and photopolymer plates on Zerkall paper. Drumleaf binding with handmade Japanese paper spine.
4 x 7.75"
Edition of 20

Several of my recent artist books draw upon the day-to-day, idiosyncratic, and personal histories that are found only in the place where a story is rooted. These books attempt to bring attention to the unnoticed, focusing the eye on elements of everyday surroundings that reveal clues of the life that had previously populated it. Historic and Memorable Trees of Iowa examines the history of some of Iowa’s famous trees, calling attention to the life hidden in these long forgotten sentries that once stood as markers of home in Iowa’s open landscape.

 

DISPEL
Letterpress printing, linocuts, and pulp painting on handmade paper.
5 x 5"
Edition of 5

In Dispel I explore the idea of feminine and spiritual
perfection, specifically within Catholicism which is the religious doctrine of my family. The imagery is evocative of the light cast from cathedral windows. I use the light and shadow cast from the windows to imply illumination or the revealing of truths and imperfections. At times the window forms seem to loom behind the figure, abstractly suggesting the all-seeing eye of God.

RAKING LIGHT (Honorable Mention)
Accordion printed with linoleum reduction and metal type on waxed handmade Japanese kozo created by the artist.
5 x 3.5" closed, 5 x 54" open
Edition of 20

Raking Light is a meditation on the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, which seeks to find beauty within the simplicity, austerity, and asperity of a given form or space. This book serves as a study of the subtle and often transient nature of light and shadow in Japanese architecture, and is a reflection of the artist’s own experience walking the raked gardens of Kyoto’s Daisen-In.

REFRAMED
Digital printing, letterpress, and screen printing. Double concertina binding structure.
5 x 7"
Edition of 5

I’ve used the dining room environment as a metaphor for the emptiness I feel over the loss of my grandfather. In this piece, I am attempting to hold on to his memory. The prominence of the chandelier illuminates the focus of my memories of him through family photographs. My fondest memories of him will forever be of sitting down together at the dining room table while he shared stories of his past. I will always try to hold on to those moments, even though his physical presence will be absent around the table for meals to come.

 

BLOOPY AND MUJU DISCUSS PHILOSOPHY
Letterpress and screen printing, Japanese stab binding.
6.5 x 4"
Edition of 10

Bloopy and Muju Discuss Philosophy combines letterpress and screen-printing. Aesthetically, the characters of Bloopy and Muju were inspired by graffiti I saw on a trip to New York City. My goal was to tie these original figures, created in the style of a non-narrative art form, with a narrative environment in which they would be able to interact. I hope to make this a series, with the second book already in production.”

 

EMBRACE
Giclee and letterpress printing on Oak Tag paper.
12 x 6"
Edition of 5

Embrace focuses on the personal distress brought on as I lose grip with my fading heritage. Hailing from Erzgebirge, a mining town in Germany, my family’s final remaining connection to the rich history of our origin grows ever more distant as time passes on. Using ornament rendered from elements of mining equipment I sought to capture the feeling of being lost in a dark cave with little opportunity of direction or escape. Merely an occasional shimmer of hope as you navigate the intangible corridors of my descent.

 

TEMPE
Accordion structure, letterpress printed from photopolymer plates.
7.25 x 6.25"
Edition of 18

Tempe is a graphic reaction to my first year living in Tempe, AZ. I was living in a comfortable but crappy little townhome directly under the inbound flight path to Skyharbor International Airport. From my second story balcony view of the alley dumpster, I was able to observe all of the deposits and withdrawals made in the large communal receptacle. being that the American city of Tempe is named after the ancient Grecian “vale of tempe”, I though it fit to visually model the book after ancient Greek “black-figure” vessel paintings. The motif was changed to fit both my hand as an artist and the unique character of the city that inspired it, with airplanes and nopal replacing olive leaves and seas of saguaro in place of rolling waves (the palm fronds, however, remained the same). Tempe was hand drawn and designed in the spring of 2011. It was printed in three runs from low-tech photopolymer plates and produced in limited edition.

 

WALKIN' ON THE SIDEWALKS
Origami book, digital printing.
8.25 x 5"
Edition of 25

Walkin’ on the Sidewalks is visual description of a song of the same name, written by Alphredo Hernandez and Joshua Homme, performed by the Queens of the Stone Age, and loosely interpreted through the illustrations of Karl Conner Johnson. The intention was to translate aural ques into visual information: musical rhythms into visual rhythms, timbre into texture, pitch into value, etc. The book unfolds in an extended origami form, so the reader can enjoy one page at a time, or take it all in at once. It was produced in limited edition at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts in the Spring 2011.

 

TRES VESES
Accordion structure, letterpress printed from linoleum blocks on handmade abaca paper, slip-case cover is walnut dyed with ink-resist.
6 x 96" (open)
Edition of 20

About Tres Veces: Dia de los Muertos is a day of celebration and love in which the living remember departed relatives. Tres Veces, created in this spirit was influenced by someone I almost lost to suicide. A heartbeat pulses across each page representing the fight to hold on to that loved one. Following the path of the heartbeat a pensive skeleton gathers belongings while walking back and forth across each spread. The piece serves as a reminder to celebrate all of the moments we are still able to have, to cherish them all.

 

YES, BUT
Linoleum, woodcut, handset metal types (10 and 12pt. Palatino) on Rives Heavyweight. Binding is a modified Conservation papercase (long-stitch). Cover is Lightweight UICB Flax handmade paper. 4 x 9"
Edition of 50

About Yes, but: Made as a tribute to time spent at the University of Iowa in the Library Science program and at the Center for the Book, this book includes texts composed by fellow graduate students Alison K. Greene and Amelia Bird. The images in the book are linoleum cuts of perching birds (order: passeriformes) permanently on view at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Iowa. It is intended as a container for three works (two texts and a series of images) whose themes resonate but are not overtly related.

•• 2012 SECOND PLACE WINNER ••

ULUHAIMALAMA — LEGACIES OF LILI'UOKALANI
Letterpress printed handmade artists’ book / music project, housed in a clamshell box. Printed from photopolymer plates and laser engraved wood blocks on cotton abaca handmade paper, chipboard, and French papers.
12 x 12 x 0.75"
Edition of 50

The project explores the occupied state of Hawai‘I; it’s political past and history of organized resistance. Milham combines music composed by Queen Lili‘uokalani, (played and recorded by the artist), with a detailed portrayal of Hawai‘i’s story contained within the accompanying album artwork and packaging. The content plays out in an interactive uncovering; an intense discovery of successive layers to be sifted through, understood and felt. Postcards, 12” laser cut stencil, booklet and other items of ephemera become tools, allowing the viewer to turn their newly acquired knowledge into action.

 

DISCONTENTMENT
Screen printing, letterpress, pulp painting on handmade paper (cotton & flax).
4.75 x 8.25"
Edition of 5

Discontentment: This piece deals with the idea that having moved away from my family I no longer have a defined home. In Discontentment I express my resentment toward the impermanent structures I have been expected to call home.

 

EPHEMERAL CONSTRUCTIONS
Letterpress, pulp paint, watermark and digital impression on handmade paper.
5.5 x 9.5"
Edition of 5

Ephemeral Constructions is based on the anxiety of the excessive urban landscape, which seems to determine the way in which we dwell. Therefore, questioning our existence. This book is made with pulp paint, line bleed, watermark, letterpress and digital impression on handmade paper.