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Ann P. Lewis ~ Massachusetts |
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| Artist bio: " Ann Lewis is a mixed media artist and writer. She has been painting, making collages and one-of-a-kind books for over 30 years. She is enamored with wax, re-purposed containers, layering, and unexpected juxtapositions. Her paintings are sometimes bold, sometimes subtle experiments with color, materials and surface—how the materials interact is another language. Her artist books capture the quirky poetry of everyday life and are included in the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities, Smith College, UVM, Princeton, Stanford and Baylor Universities among others collections. She has published trade editions with Chronicle and Heyday Books and is currently working on a collection of short and very short stories. She attended UMass Amherst, California College of the Arts and has an MFA from Mills College" |
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To-go Library
By Ann P. Lewis
Westhampton, Massachusetts: 2014, Ann P. Lewis. One-of-a-Kind.
8.5 x 6.5 x 5.5" found metal filebox with hinged lid housing 25 books. Paper title label on front side slipped into metal id holder. Table of contents tipped to underside of lid. Books divided by ABC file tab cards. Each book signed and dated by the artist.
Ann Lewis: "Alphabetically organized, each book loosely referring to the given letter in the sequence. The cumulative result is a catalog of daily reflections and visual/textual puns. I am using a simple book structure that is readily available to anyone with a sheet of paper and a sharp X-Acto blade. I relish this non-fussy, accessible approach to bookmaking.
"'To-go' refers to this accessible and portable nature of small, tactile, intriguing books. Each file letter corresponds to a hidden foldbook with a loose reference to the letter. For instance: A = 'Aerial View of Landscape or Artisanal Cracker?', B = 'Feeling Blue?', C = 'Color', D = 'You Are Such a Drip.'
"The collection is housed in a file box that one could conceivably tote anywhere, thereby making book arts more accessible, rather than being squirreled away in a vault or the far reaches of the library. Many people (a class of students) could look at the quirky little collection at one time. The actual book form is also accessible and would hopefully inspire others to make something unique or a sheet of 8½ x 11 paper."
$2,000 |
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| Ann Lewis Out of Print Title: |
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Stroke of Luck
By Ann Lewis
Westhampton, Massachusetts: Ann P. Lewis. One-of-a-Kind.
5.5 x 3 x 4" hinged wooden file box with 11 manila alphabetical cards and 11 slides. Laser printed on Neenah acid-free paper. Text sealed with Winsor Newton wax masking medium. Images framed in Gepe Anti-Newton glass slide mounts. Collage including elements of thread from artist's mother's collection, various papers, plants grown by the artist, or plants picked by the artist from Mother Nature. Materials: Neenah paper. Winsor Newton wax; Depe Anti-Newton glass slide mounts; Dante's Paradiso, vellum, wax, ph neutral glue, thread, plants, index cards, paper. Text mounted on cards. Each slide page labeled with letter on the back side corresponding to its manila file tab letter. Signed and dated by the artist.
Ann Lewis: "Stroke of Luck is an 11-page slide book reflecting on sudden illness, memory, fragility and survival ... The best way to handle this book is to remove the file tab and the artwork preceding it, read them together and replace, reading sequentially .
"I make books because of their intimate scale. Readers can hold the books and experience them in their own way. The message is both verbal and tactile. The melding of several threads of vocabulary really suits my style of working. I write fiction, non-fiction and poetry and I also make larger-scale encaustic collages on panel. The book, a miniature fusion of mediums, is where my two passions meet. Paper, wax and thread are currently very compelling book-making materials. Layering these materials creates surprises for both me and the viewer. I am particularly enamored of the transparency of vellum, wax and plants pressed within the glass frames of these pages. When held to the light, a more nuanced and beautiful reading takes place as rich textures and a new palette are revealed. Within this visual context is the story filed away in the mind's eye.
"In this case, I am recounting my mother's recent stroke. Her very mind is a complicated layer, the synapses like thread, her life/her body suddenly in need of preservation, as if she could be a beautiful flower pressed between glass and kept in an orderly container forever. This book serves as a reminder that life is comprised of complex connections between people, nature, and the ethereal mysteries of life. We are both delicate and resilient, depending on the circumstances and not a small amount of luck."
(SOLD) |
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Winter Under Wraps
By Ann Lewis
Westhampton, Massachusetts: Ann P. Lewis, 1997. One-of-a-Kind.
2 x 2"; 10 specimens; 8 text leaves. Miniature. Materials: sweater pocket, shoelace, cardboard, wax, died plants, slide mounts. Signed and page numbered on back of each slide. Stack of slides and text pages slipped in three sided pocket. Tie closure of shoestring and button. Signed and dated by the artist.
Ann Lewis: "Looking for signs of life in a deep Vermont winter after having lived in temperate California for ten years. The artwork is meant to evoke museum or laboratory specimens, the text pages slushy turf.
"Winter Under Wraps should be untied and the pages viewed sequentially (image followed by text). Each page is numbered on the back should they fall out of order."
(SOLD) |
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Page last update: 01.21.2023
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