Ok, here's one:
Artist Statement
My current body of work is based in two inter-related series, Palimpsest and Ornament/Monument. Each piece explores the written word, and how the subtleties of texture, light and transparency affect the way an artists book is read. My central line of inquiry is twofold: How many layers of information can be contained in a single object, and how does revealing or concealing a narrative affect meaning?
In Palimpsest, I create journals that deal with language as code, texture and design that can break down, erase or heighten a feeling of attempted communication. The text is handwritten in stylized script, html, translated text and Braille, then layered and obscured with more writing, encaustic wax or hand-cut paper. In recent work, I have embedded text into handmade paper and inscribed messages or poems on top, so a different message may be read depending on the way a page is held up to the light. The effect of this work illustrates the way a palimpsest can hold hidden messages, exist in several languages, live different lives and contain multiple meanings inside of a single book.
Ornament/Monument is a series of inquiries on mourning and memorial, and the ability of a very small object to contain a monumental idea. In a series based on Victorian mourning jewels, I wrote several Ghazal poems in white ink on Japanese paper and encased them in epoxy pendants. The epoxy makes the paper completely transparent, so the words seem to float, perhaps in a space between the living and the dead. I have also encased natural objects, flowers and vines, in an act of memento mori, the need to capture every fleeting moment with the bittersweet notion that every moment passes.
Palimpsest and Ornament/Monument are born out of the need to document life, to leave something beautiful behind, a need that is complicated, layered and ever changing.
Elizabeth Isakson
2011
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