Street Angels 2011
Shellie Jacobson, USA
| While I was considering joining the
Al-Mutanabbi Street Begins Here book project,
I was painfully reminded of the history of burned books. Two incidents
immediately came to mind: the Alexandria Library in ancient Egypt
and the German book conflagrations of Kristallnacht before the Second
World War. Although books can be physically destroyed by fire, I
believe the ideas and energy once contained within them never perish. The intention of this book is to offer primal protection for the contemporary ideas newly emerging from the Street. To begin, my marks are letters and words of ancient Semitic languages; connecting with regional roots as well as my own ancient roots. These languages are also woven into the tradition of protection against the evil eye. Perhaps Street Angels may not provide real protection against harm; On the other hand, these angels might help closely guard the ideas we strive to preserve. My print imagery was inspired by the Manuscript of Practical Kabbalah depicting angels, Morocco, 1925. Street Angels is dedicated to all authors who risk speaking, writing and publishing their work. It is the loose or scattered pages they leave for me to gather from the Street and bind together. These are the memory pages that form new beginnings. Shellie Jacobson was born in Buffalo, New York. She attended Carnegie-Mellon University (BFA) and completed graduate studies at Rutgers, the State University (Ed.D). She maintains her studio in Skillman, New Jersey. Jacobson has been creating artists books for more than 10 years. She was a visiting artist at the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Her books were included in group exhibitions in many US cities as well as Costa Rica, Mexico and England. Her books are in permanent collections at the Newark Public Library, Ben Shahn Gallery and are published in Lark Books 500 Handmade Books. |
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