umbra

Another Summer Project: World as Text.

2011-05-25T08:00:00.001-07:00

I'm participating in a design collaboration project with John Preus of Material Exchange, World as Text, designing an artists book reading room at the Center for Book and Paper Arts this summer.

Here is our process blog, with more about the project here.

I'm excited to do some building and curating in the gallery space at Columbia.

Illuminate!

2011-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

illuminate

vb [ɪˈluːmɪˌneɪt]

1.(tr) to throw light in or into; light up to illuminate a room

2.(tr) to make easily understood; clarify

3. to adorn, decorate, or be decorated with lights

4. (Bookbinding) (tr) to decorate (a letter, page, etc.) by the application of colors, gold, or silver

5.(intr) to become lighted up

Illuminate, a week long, site-specific installation in Scripps Park, opening on Saturday, May 14th, 2011, will feature messages from Detroiters attached to thousands of glowing LEDs that will shed light on the energy that is surrounding the revival of Detroit.

The project is made possible by Foward Arts, Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corporation and Friends of Scripps Park through Access Arts, Forwards Arts' Visual Arts & Education Program with financial support from the MCACA, Lear and community donations

How it works:

I will invite participants to write a message on a slip of handmade paper. This message can express their view as a citizen of Detroit, or answer a posed question, such as:

Why do you believe in Detroit?

What is a way to make Detroit a better place?

What do you want the rest of the world to know about Detroit?

The messages will then be encased in a layer of waterproof contact paper, and attached to a small, colored LED light and placed in the park. The end result will be an illuminated park that also serves as a manuscript, and viewers will be invited to interact with the lights, reading messages and re-arranging them throughout the space.

By including messages from Detroiters of all walks of life, I will exhibit a cohesive bond in the community through a collection of glowing ideas that will be visually and conceptually vibrant.

The LED message lights in Illuminate will be attached to objects throughout Scripps Park- hung from trees, scattered on the grass, magnetized to the playground equipment and the iconic gate surrounding the perimeter. The ideal result will be noticeable to street traffic from Trumbull, Grand River, and Martin Luther King Drive.

The messages, process and final installation of Illuminate will be photographed and formed into a print-on-demand artist’s book, which will be available for sale online, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Revitalization of Scripps Park and to the Greening of Detroit. A limited edition artists book will also be made in later months and copies of this book will be donated to the Detroit Institute of Arts, MOCAD, The Detroit Public Library, The School of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts at Wayne State University, and the Center for Book and Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago.

On a Personal Note:

Until this summer, when I relocated to Chicago for graduate school, I lived in Detroit for 10 years. I spent a year of that time living in Woodbridge, on Trumbull between Alexandrine and Selden, right around the corner from Scripps Park. I always dreamed that the Park could be as alive and vibrant as the burgeoning community around it, and I participated in several clean-up initatives in and around Scripps. This installation would allow me an opportunity to work in this area again, and give back to the community, as well as voice some of the community’s concerns through the messages of light.

To HELP/ FOLLOW this project, please visit:
The Kickstarter Page for Illuminate
Illuminate Project Blog
Event Page on Facebook

Current Artists Statement

2011-05-02T15:38:00.000-07:00

As my first year of MFA study comes to a close, I'll post my current artists statement and a promise that I will post new artwork photos as soon as a catch a bit of a break!

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

compare and contrast

2010-01-09T08:10:00.000-08:00

new pieces from ornament/monument series

2009-12-26T13:56:00.001-08:00

images were taken from my iPhone, so again, not the best in quality, but my layout and process in this work is becoming more clear.
i have taken a lot of inspiration from the artist i've been assisting, Susan Campbell, and her work with plants. a book in her collection, The Pressed Plant, has gorgeous annotations, with i realize should be featured in my work, as the tie between my images and handwritten text is important to the piece.

video of ghazal

2009-12-11T12:12:00.000-08:00

hopefully this video will work. my camera broke recently, so image quality on some of this work may be spotty, since they were captured on my phone.

paint-making, research

2009-08-13T07:43:00.001-07:00

the other day i found karen michel's book, "green guide for artists", and i haven't been without it since.

the most useful tool in the guide is michel's recipes for natural, non-toxic paints. i've been interested in raw pigments since i've begun working with encaustic mediums, but haven't made my own paint yet. these recipes are so simple, and include ingredients that are readily available and non-toxic, like gum arabic, honey, eggs, and essential oils. i'm excited to make my own paint, and to ditch the studio fumes that come with solvent-based paints.

one paint included in the guide is called glair paint, and was used during the fifth century for illuminated manuscripts- the only ingredients are egg white and pigment.

i have also been avidly following a blog, "pen and parchment" from the metropolitan museum of art, that details book art and drawing from the middle ages in the museums collection. a recent post, here, talks about the formula for making gold paint from a medieval source called the Mappae clavicula. it's amazing.

this research has inspired me to work with medieval mediums, and to make my own glair paint, gold paint and india ink in small batches to incorporate into my work.

first portion of ghazal

2009-05-10T10:52:00.001-07:00

a ghazal is an arabic form of poetry consisting of couplets that are related, but are separate poems in themselves. the couplets were described in one source as a string of pearls, beautiful on their own, but more powerful grouped together in one strand.

this is the first couplet in a series of six, written about memories of my great-grandmother, lelia.

they are also meant to represent musical notations, and each couplet will be in a different configuration. i may compose a piece on the autoharp to be played following these notations.

it reads, "to see her was to look into a light."

this will be the first completed piece(s) in my series exploring monument and ornament.

in the studio this week....

2009-05-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

experimenting with hanging the new pieces....some almost-complete projects.

studio work

2009-03-21T10:27:00.000-07:00

getting back into the studio on the first day of spring.
the epoxy pendants contain paper white flowers and leaves of grass, and passages written in white on white Japanese paper.

these are new works in epoxy that will be made into hanging "books" or "poems" and hopefully, some will be formed into a chandelier.

recent work, new photos!!

2009-02-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

New photos by Marvin Shanoui from the work in my Palimpsest series. Above and below: "Leaflet"

"Trying to Forget Icarus":

"Palimpsest for Laura":

"Illuminated Manuscript, Page 2":
"Illuminated Manuscript, Page 1":

"Luminary Three, A Song":
"Luminary Four, The Hand":
"Palimpsest: Archives":

"Palimpsest: Translation":

"A Memory (For Fifi)":

research(es)

2008-12-04T13:57:00.000-08:00

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/29138/jacques-bedel/

i just read about the artist jacques bedel in modern painters, and the image in the article is outstanding. i'm trying to find out more about his work, or at least some more images of books. the image is arresting to me because of the transparency of the book... transparency is a formal concern for me, and I have been trying to make a clear books....

and a friend sent me a link to this artist, edith collath, who makes books that breathe. it's heavily humorous, i guess, her work is a playful momento mori.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYdQkoQymWM&eurl=http://edithkollath.wordpress.com/

more images

2008-12-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

images of "illuminated manuscript: page 2", installation view at 4731 Gallery.

media: etched copper, etched glass, epoxy resin, paper, and candle.
image etched on glass is also available as a serigraph gocco print in silver.

a few images

2008-11-30T11:17:00.001-08:00

installation views at 4731 gallery....

Palimpsest: Archives
Leaflet

more to come... i have quite a few to sort through.

CODEX

2008-11-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

my solo show, CODEX, opened in the beginning of November. i have a lot of images, and am now in the process of tearing down the show in the gallery. it is a strange feeling to see all of the work i have made in a year, collected in one big room, and it feels stranger still to now move it all back to my small studio. i hope it will give me a bit of perspective.

my December task is applying to three graduate programs. i feel like i am ready for a more rigorous course of study, but it seems so long since i've been in an academic environment that i have to re-adjust. i am excited to do so...

i'll get some images together and post them here, hopefully it will help my review process so i can plan my portfolio. daunting, but exciting.

new work

2008-07-22T11:14:00.000-07:00

the above image is "palimpsest: for laura", 2008.

i am working on new pieces and applying to a show next week. it is exciting, i have been making the first works that are non-representational or illusionistic... and to me they are about something more universal.

here are some studio images:

above are some works in progress and a view of process.

the palimpsest concept is one of constant re-invention. i write over words i have already written, spill paint or wax to obscure meaning in a passage or to illuminate something that was once hidden. it's as though i am working in a way directly opposite of a conservationalist.
i am experimenting with materials like wax, charcoal, thread and copper to create a narrative- a parallel to the narrative that i am writing on the pages of the books. i am using my penmanship- which is greatly inspired by traditions in calligraphy- and languages like hindi and braille to pull texture into the written pieces. the language and material are creating direct references to alchemy, the body, and the practice of journaling.

the work has become meditative and very introspective in the studio. it's freeing to write and erase personal statements.... the books are in a constant state of change.

एक्सपेरिमेंट.

2008-05-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

because, on the last post, one paragraph transliterated into hindi by accident, i have decided that i am going to use this blog to translate a passage from my new piece and include the same passage in both languages.

here it is in english; not the most amazing passage of writing, but it's all free form and will be erased, so i won't be hard on myself:
"if it isn't right, then it isn't right। but i intend to try. i could lose, i could gain, but it's all in the narrative. i keep losing and regaining the narrative, it's fragmented and fragile, and i won't know where it's going until i'm finished with the page. and i think i need these words because the visual narrative has never been strong enough. i've tried to force it into images, i have tried to say that "i'm telling a story", but that is not telling a story. it's like a high school english class, i need to show, not tell, and now i know what i am showing, and it's not just on image, it's layers of image in words. ezra pounds' "phanopeia, melopeia, and logopeia... throw a visual image on to the readers imagination."

"इफ आईटी इसन'टी रिघ्त आईटी इसन'टी रिघ्त, बुत इ इन्तेंद तरी। इ कोउल्ड लोस, इ कोउल्ड गईं, बुत आईटी'स अल इन थे नार्रतिवे। इ कीप लोसिंग एंड रेगैनिंग थे नार्रतिवे, आईटी'स फ्राग्मेंतेद एंड फ्रागिले। एंड इ वों'टी क्नो वेयर आईटी'स गोइंग उन्तिल इ'म फिनिशेद विथ थे पेज। एंड इ थिंक इ नीद ठेस वोर्ड्स बेकाउसे थे विसुअल नार्रतिवे हस नेवर बीन स्ट्रोंग एनौघ। इ'वे त्रिएद टू फोर्स आईटी इन्तो इमागेस, इ हवे त्रिएद टू से ठाट "इ'म तेल्लिंग अ स्टोरी", बुत ठाट इस नोट तेल्लिंग अ स्टोरी। आईटी' सलिके अ हिघ स्चूल इंग्लिश क्लास, इ नीद टू शो, नोट तेल, एंड नो इ क्नो वहत इ ऍम शोविंग, एंड आईटी'स नोट जुस्त अन इमेज, आईटी'स लायेर्स ऑफ़ इमेज इन वोर्ड्स। एजरा पौन्ड्स' "फनोपिया, मेलोपिया, एंड लोगोपिया... थ्रो अ विसुअल इमेज ओं थे थे रेअदेर्स इमागिनाशन।"

search.

2008-05-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

i am looking for a studio. yesterday i saw a raw space that belongs to friends in hamtramck that may work really well, if it can be available by june. i know i shouldn't be so nervous, it's barely may, but i want it secured because i want to keep working on the palimpsests. i have an amazing momentum going so far.

today i looked at a very not-raw space in ferndale, an office space. the owner didn't seem leery about renting to an artist, which is great, it just may be difficult to have as a studio i can use for encaustic and etching, which is important for this series. i may be able to talk to him about it, though. on the other hand, it's a two room space for super cheap, and i can use the front room as a mini-gallery/ office- he said there was no problem punching holes in the wall. awesome.

tomorrow i go to an artist studio building in detroit. i've seen studios there before, and it is good because it's established, and a little more auspicious, they have studio shows....yet, i've heard rumors that it may not be too secure a space, and there's parking issues, i'm sure.

so much of this is generating a lot of focus, so i'm trying for one appointment a day, and then coming home and working on pieces। i made my first mach-up for a palimpsest yesterday, and i am hoping to have my first piece done next week, after figuring out the encaustic method i will use. i just need a few more pieces of equipment.

हियर इस अ पीस ठाट इ ऍम उसिंग अस अ रेफेरेंस, ठाट इस फाइव येअर्स ओल्ड, कॉल्ड "त्र्यिंग टू फोरगेट इकारुस", आईटी'स इंक, चर्कोअल एंड एन्काउस्टिक ओं पेपर विथ चर्कोअल (इ हवे नो आईडिया वही माय पोस्ट तुर्नेद टू हिन्दी बुत इ तोताल्ली डिग आईटी):

the above text was accidentally translated into hindi! what i was trying to say is that the piece below, called "trying to forget icarus", from 2003, is my reference piece for this new series. i am using the same pallette and encaustic method, just on books:

first.

2008-04-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

today i went for a long walk, then stopped to buy some books. i really wanted an anselm kiefer mono, something i would refer to forever... but instead bought the latest art news, a book called "art & fear", and a philosophy, selected essays of michel foucault; "language, counter-memory, practice". i passed up many other books, of course, quite a few which were more practical.

i am establishing this blog to round out my new series of art pieces, called "palimpsest". i'm naming it after my favorite word, umbra, which has a variety of textured meanings, my favorite of which is the dark accompianment to a physical body. i am going to use html from this source and transfer it to my artwork.

i have been thinking more and more about graduate school, and about the bookmaking residency. this week i am also planning to apply to the artist's market for a solo show, even though i am in rudimentary stages of the palimpsest series, it will be a good practice for me to start answering calls for entries.