A Week of Jewels
A Week of Jewels, 2008 / Varied edition of 10 / Archival inkjet & palladium leaf on Dobbin Mill papers, embedded mica / Text by the artist on translucent abaca papers
Size: 14” x 12.4” x 1”
A book about a minor event, a missing ring that signifies loss. The short story is presented in a traditional format, a text block on a white ground. Nevertheless, it’s the book’s materiality which informs the choreography of the read: embedded mica represents memory loss by its translucency and its reflectiveness; the palladium leaf is a symbol for the precious jewel; and, the opaque and translucent papers suggest the loss of sentience, which is the subtext of the story.
Additional thoughts:
The text is deceptively descriptive and mundane, in contrast to the richness of the materials. Most importantly, "A Week of Jewels" requires the reader to understand the subtext revealed between the lines: which is the significance of the loss, when that loss happens to be one’s memory.
The seemingly random shapes of palladium are patterned by the mica embedded into first grey sheet in each copy.
Brooklyn Makes Excerpts
Brooklyn Makes, 2009 / Digital video by Sarah Nelson Wright about the production of A Week of Jewels; 8 minutes
A Week of Jewels
A Week of Jewels, 2008 / Unique / Archival inkjet printing, embroidery & found objects on Dobbin Mill papers
Size: 7” x 6.5”
A Week of Jewels is a unique artist book about a woman’s ring that goes missing. The text, printed on translucent paper, chronicles seven days filled with searching, contemplation and eventually the realization that the ring never existed. The text pages alternate with grey cotton rag papers with collages of sewn tinsel detritus & small metal objects.
Additional thoughts:
After completing this book I decided that I wanted to make an edition with the text and designed a new version that replaced the unique found objects with another material, mica, that could also inform the narrative.
