2008 Winners of the Barbara Lewis Book Challenge
Sandra Wortzel -2008 1st Place Winner
Karen Hanmer - 2nd Place Winner
Suze Gilbert and Pasha Grant tied for 3rd Place
1st Place Winner
Sandra Wortzel
Still Dancing....A Book of Images
Artist Statement:
Ever since I can remember, my being has been in motion. Movement, as opposed to stillness, is at my very heart and core. I chose to construct the book with transparencies of images because of the open, endless space they provide visually, and the fluidity they appear to create with the static images. I see it as a circular sculptural book, like a dance in a “theater in the round.” The images follow my dancing journey from my first ballet performance at 5 years old through the present. “Still... Dancing” is a visual journey of the dancer, mover, shaker, and whirling dervish that lives inside of me always,whether I am;paying attention or not.”
2nd Place Winner
Karen Hanmer
Celestial Navigation
Artist Statement:
“In this book, a brief poem I wrote gives insight into what someone might be seeking, and finding, when they look to the stars. This is paired with an illustrated catalog of ancient and modern instruments used to navigate by the stars, and a 19th Century star chart on a background photograph of the Milky Way. The structure of hinged triangles can be read like a traditional book, can be removed from its jacket and unfolded flat to reference historical astronomical charts or contemporary NASA composite photos, or can be folded into an infinite variety of sculptural shapes.”
3rd Place Winner
Pasha Grant
My Journey in Pop-Up
Artist Statement:
“In this work I am examining my own journey of self and identity. I wanted to explore my childhood dreams in relation to my current reality and how those reflect each other. I chose the pop-up format because I wanted to distill those dreams and images down to their simplest form to express that identity, while using the minimum amount of text. Inasmuch as this is my first foray into the pop-up world, I also found the exploration of this book form to be another kind of journey that has pleased and frustrated me to no end.
3rd Place Winner
Suze Gilbert
Path of Stones
Artist Statement:
“The rich and varied textures of the landscape intrigue me and I sought to capture those textures by creating papers that reflected the colors and surfaces of the coastline and water of the East Coast and the red earth of the Southwest. The colors segue the journey from East to Southwest. My book uses the metaphor of stones to describe my past and present. Stones are an important element in my life and ground me to my place in the landscape. I tell the story of my journey by small stories, each a separate facet, but unified by the photographs of the stones.”
