Gabrielle Cooksey~ Washington

Blight
Poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Book design by Gabby Cooksey
Tacoma, Washington: Gabrielle Cooksey, 2020. Edition of 28.

Letterpress printed with handset type on inkjet photo transfers, silkscreen printed panels, and acrylic painted Kozuke paper. Cover paper by Hook Pottery Paper. Bound in a modified case binding. Letterpress printing completed at Springtide Press with assistance from Jessica Spring. In clamshell box. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Gabby Cooksey: "Ralph Emerson wrote this poem, 'Blight', in July of 1843. He spoke out on climate change and the ways we could shift course by not blindly following others. In describing his travels to Europe while writing on life and nature, Emerson said, 'same faces under new caps and jackets, another turn of the old kaleidoscope.'

"I took some liberties with Emerson's poem, surrounding his words with photographs captures at Owen Beach in Washington state on a rainy winter day in 2019. This public beach, in the middle of an urban old-growth forest, will close for a year beginning in fall of 2020 to mitigate the effects of climate change and rising sea levels. Emerson's words of anger and disappointment at environmental destruction only resonate more with our current climate of melting glaciers and raging fires. As we continue to twist the kaleidoscope, I remain optimistic we will find a way to rearrange these fragments and improve the view for future generations."
$2,100 (Last Copy)

anyway
By Gabby Cooksey
Tacoma, Washington: Gabrielle Cooksey, 2016. Edition of 35.

5.25 x 2.375"; 8 pages with pastedowns. Letterpress printed. Hand painted. Gold foil tooled. Paper-covered boards with paper title. Signed and numbered by the artist on the colophon page.

Advice attributed to Mother Teresa offered as an anodyne to the chaotic present.

People are often unreasonable & self-centered.
Forgive them anyway

(SOLD/Out of Print)

The Book of Penumbra
Deadly myths retold
By Gabrielle Cooksey
Tacoma, Washington: Gabrielle Cooksey, 2016. Edition of 23.

9.13 x 6.69"; 19 pages. Hand-bound accordion case binding. Thai Mulberry Black and Tengu-jo Japanese Kozo. Letterpress printed with handset type and photopolymer plates. Gold Foil Tooling. Signed and numbered by the artist. Laid in hinged painted black box.

A book of small stories of death gods from around the world.

Gabby Cooksey: "Death has always fascinated me because it happens to all of us yet no one talks about it. I wanted to see what other cultures personified death as through myths and legends. The gods in this book are very hushed and for some, even if you speak the name, you'll be cursed. I wanted this book to be shadows, to be played in the light. I chose a delicate paper so one could see through to the page behind it. The text is in all sorts of shapes because I wanted each story to represent the god being told about. For instance, Sedna is in the shape of drowning, Anubis is his eye, Mac is a pit with someone at the bottom. The borders are all plants, roots, and things found on the earth. Some represent death like the poppy, and the yew tree."

Colophon: "These stories are told using pen and ink, then tidied up in Illustrator. Photopolymer plates were combined with handset Packard, then letterpress printed and hand colored."
(SOLD/Out of print)

By Gabby Cooksey
Tacoma, Washington: Gabrielle Cooksey, 2018. Edition of 26.

13.3 x 10". Letterpress printed at Springtide Press with Jessica Spring in Tacoma, Washington. Mrs. Eave's text printed on photopolymer plates. Suede-tex paper painted with acrylic and methyl cellulose. Bound in Cave paper. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Gabby Cooksey: "12 aluminum beetles with stories. 7 of the stories were written by me. The others are Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Darwin, Hans Christian Anderson, and Aesop.

"This mouthful of a title is meant to be just that, but also a Coleopterist is someone who studies beetles specifically and a swarm is a gathering of beetles. I have always been interested in these insects so researching them was a joy. The stories I made up are meant to feel true, and you question if you've heard of them before or not. This book is meant to feel precious but also rugged; I chose all the materials to withstand a beating like a field guide, but also the craftsmanship in it shows.

"Opening statement in my book: These tales were told to me through whispered words from around the world and researched extensively through old tomes. I write to you now, my fellow believer in myths and legends, trying to provide the truest rendition of these stories into your hands. May you find a beetle of your own, and one day, tell me its fanciful story."

"Colophon: The beetles are crafted out of embossing paper templates and photopolymer plates, stylized with a ball point pen and painted with alcohol ink on aluminum. … Dedicated to Eli for our childhood of bugs and stories."
(SOLD/Out of Print)

Somewhere
By Gabby Cooksey
Des Moines, Washington: Gabby Cooksey, 2017. Edition of 5.

12 x 8"; 14 pages. Materials: Kraft-tex paper, gold foil, Tengu-jo Japanese paper, varnish, printers paper. Modified sketchbook binding. Numbered.

On February 11, 2017 the artist went hiking through Saltwater State Park located on the shoreline of Puget Sound in Washington state. Her inspiration for "Somewhere" came from this walk. She uses the textures of bark, moss and vines as her subjects.

Gabby Cooksey: "This book was found by accident. Trying to come up with an idea of the Pacific Northwest when I realized this is it, the hike through Saltwater State Park was my PNW. Curiosity and exploration was the cause of this book. Photo-transferring, varnish painting and trying to make gold look like a paint brush stroke were all new territory for me and this was the best opportunity to try. The woods follow me where ever I go, so it only makes sense to echo the woods back at me in the pages, the text emphasized this. This haven of color and texture is where I find a clear mind and my imagination."
(SOLD)