Judith Serling-Sturm ~ Ohio

Artist statement: “My interest in book arts began as a bookbinding apprentice. I was captivated by exposed bindings, the effort of ‘keeping it together’ assuming a position equal in beauty, in strength, in voice, to structure and content. Working in both traditional and non-traditional book forms, I explore the way in which materials, structure, surface design techniques, bindings, and text communicate and add nuance to content. “This funky niche of book arts in the wider art world requires a unique engagement. Working within this form, I often surprise myself by discovering new understandings of the world around us. Better yet, I am left with more to discover …..”

Click here for the YouTube link: The Art Show, Judith Serling-Strum

Visits From The Bedtime Magician
During Which Time He Makes His Body Parts Disappear
by Judith Serling-Sturm
Cincinnati, Ohio: Judith Serling-Sturm:, [undated]. One-of-a-Kind.

18.75 x 3.5” closed. Accordion binding. Handwritten paper title label on front board. Materials: Lokta, fine art paper, mylar, charcoal, watercolor, pencils, metallic marker, linen thread, buttons, beads. Signed by the artist.

Judith Serling-Sturm: "Constructed as a window shade that doesn't quite open fully ,this artist book explores the reflections of a child too young to understand what is happening when her sexual abuser comes to her at night and tells her he is a magician who can make a particular body part disappear.

“By using a vertical accordion structure that opens like a window shade and Mylar panels that reflect a distorted image, this piece illustrated sexual abuse from a child’s point of view.”

UNICEF (10.22.23): “Sexual violence knows no boundaries. It occurs in every country, across all parts of society. A child may be subjected to sexual abuse or exploitation at home, at school or in their community. The widespread use of digital technologies can also put children at risk.

“Most often, abuse occurs at the hands of someone a child knows and trusts. About 1 in 10 girls under the age of 20 have been forced to engage in sex or perform other sexual acts.”
$400

Unarmed in America
by Judith Serling-Sturm
Cincinnati, Ohio: Judith Serling-Sturm. One-of-a-Kind.

12.5”H x 10.25”W x 4”D closed, extends to 10”H x 102”W. Textile in scroll structure. Mixed media, including a bullet artist found while walking to work. Rolled and laid in wooden box with title on cover. Box hinged with leather straps.

Judith Serling-Sturm: "21:1 is the official statistic of young, unarmed black men to young, unarmed white men shot and killed by police as contrasted with the number of young unarmed white men who suffered that same fate. Many statistics back this up, and much analysis attempts to explain this but ‘Unarmed in America’ addressed individual lives. This is what 21:1 looks like.

“I have sewn these lives onto a muslin shroud amongst explanations, analysis, and the 21st psalm in asemic writing.

“There is no shortage of explanations for this fact, and these explanations are frequently embraced by one ideological group or another at the expense of the constructive conversations we must have.

“I think about this every time my white sons go out with their black friends, knowing that even as they walk together they walk into two very different worlds. I hope ‘Unarmed in America’, helps all of us see the statistic 21:1 in human terms."
$2,000

A Walk in the Woods
byJudith Serling-Sturm
Cincinnati, Ohio: Judith Serling-Sturm. One-of-a-Kind.

18" long, 7" wide; 5.5" high. Materials: handmade papers, natural and unnatural elements, found items, linen thread, tree trunk fragment. Initialed by the artist.

Judith Serling-Sturm: "This collection of natural - and unnatural - elements tells its own story of what the earth gives us - and how we humans reciprocate.

Further artist comments: "In my work, in both traditional and ‘non-traditional’ form, binding techniques, book structure, materials and content are equal players in the communication of an idea."
(SOLD)