Liber Sum, Sum Liber 2012
Carolyn Trant, UK
| Carolyn Trant, Parvenu
Press, Lewes, East Sussex, UK, July 2012 Three books made to commemorate Al-Mutanabbi Street. To design a book for such a project is fraught with pitfalls; sentiment can become sentimental; cultural differences can conceal pitfalls. Books inspire words, although form and images can be enough. I am aware of my ignorance of all the glories of Arabic literature. I have used words from three poets, Rumi, Hafez and our contemporary Hamid Mokhtar, which can be construed many ways and may promote debate. For all people, books in their many differing forms, are repositories, vital, precious, life blood. On the covers I have used the Latin tag - Liber Sum, Sum Liber - I am free, I am a book. Previously a painter, I have been making book art for the last 15 years and have work in public and private collections in the UK ( British Library, V&A National Art Library, Tate) and across the US, Europe and Australia. I show regularly at the Whitechapel London Art Book Fair, Oxford Fine Press Fair and in 2013 at CODEX Berkeley California. I work with woodcut, collagraph and dry point, using either my own texts or working collaboratively with poets, and setting up occasional installations. Recent books include - Who Killed Cock Robin; The Untenanted Room; And Other Fairy Tales; The Falcon Bride; Hunting the Wren; The Garden of Earthly Delights; My Mackerel Lover; Winterreise. www.carolyntrant.co.uk/ http://carolyntrantparvenu.blogspot.com carolyn@carolyntrant.co.uk |