Cheri Marks ~ Florida
(Blue Section Press)

Bio: "Cheri Marks is a printer, binder, and papermaker. She received an MFA from The University of Alabama with a concentration in Book Arts in 2020 and BA from Florida State University (FSU) with a Printmaking concentration in 2017. She currently lives in Tallahassee, FL, where she is working toward her MSI degree, focusing on Special Collections and archival studies, and teaches printmaking courses at Florida State University."

Artist Statement: "My work investigates the forming of relationships with archived historical material and personal development that is specific to a particular project or theme. I am interested in translating and manipulating found text to develop new meanings and perspectives that complement my imagery. My objective is to generate original content that relies on two separate ideas that become interdependent to form a new narrative."

A Case of Equilibrium
By Cheri Marks
Tallahassee, FL: Blue Section Press, 2020. Edition of 25.

5.25 x 8.5"; 14 panels including pastedowns. Double sided accordion. Letterpress Printed using photopolymer and placemats on French Paper Smart White. Boards covered in book cloth with paper title label. Signed and numbered by the artist. Laid in cloth covered clamshell box.

Cheri Marks: "A Case of Equilibrium explores the relationship between cyclical systems that occur, whether by deliberate choices, or natural forces, to sustain balance. The book investigates two particular cyclical events; the Gulf Stream ocean current and personal movement within a structural space. The two form a personal connection based on geographic location. They are built around stability and intentionality while considering constants that occur throughout cycles to maintain equilibrium.

"During my research, I formed a poetic relationship between the Gulf Stream ocean current and its directed movement with my own. The interpretation of two separate cyclical systems, operating on very different scales while still being complimentary, is my thesis project's foundation. The objective that they work together simultaneously is what I hope to translate into my work.

"While researching the Gulf Stream, I found the current correlates' intentional movement with how our bodies maintain balance through homeostasis. The ocean current has properties similar to a homeostatic system. It is a self-regulating cycle. The interaction between the two led to reflecting on how I am also a vessel, made of mostly water, that transports heat from place to place."

Colophon: "Images inspired by the Gulf Stream ocean current and floorplan of current residence. Text inspired by Walter Cannon's four core concepts that define homeostasis found in his book 'The Wisdom of the Body', and Matthew Fontaine Maury's 'The Physical Geography of the Sea'."
$375 (Last 2 copies)

Floral and Break
By Cheri Marks, Maggie Minor & Reilly D. Cox
Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Blue Section Press, 2018. Edition of 20.

4 x 6"; 26 (including free end) pages. Letterpress printed with photopolymer plates. Handmade paper from reclaimed materials. Set in Bulmer and Bulmer Italic type. In dustjacket with title print on front cover and floral illustration across spine. Illustrations by Cheri Marks and Maggie Minor. Words by Reilly D. Cox. Numbered. Signed by Marks, Cox, and Minor.

Cheri Marks: "’Floral and Break’ is a collaborative artist book between myself and two other book artists that focuses on the art of papermaking. The writing comes from Reilly Cox and the illustrations from myself and Maggie Minor. We collected found materials around Tuscaloosa, AL, and made all of the paper used for the book. The illustrations are of plants that we gathered fiber from, and we made blue paper to support the text.

“The book is made of 100% handmade paper and forms a poetic relationship with the process of papermaking and the material.”

showed my mother how to
make paper from her old cot-
ton dresses, her most tattered
blue jeans. Strip, rip, soak, beat.
Over the course of the day, so
much annihilation, so much
floral and break.

$150 (Last Copy)