Up close and personal: White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige - Part III

Up close and personal views from "White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige"

A White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige - Part II

Mineral pigment on book page

4 ½”x 7”

2008 

A White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige - Part I

Altered book pages from “A White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige” (1875)

Mineral pigment on book page

4 ½”x 7”

2008

All I know about the author, Ella Farman from what I could find is that she was probably an American, and she was born in 1837 and died in 1907. Her book, A White Hand: a story of noblesse oblige was published in 1875 in Boston. I can’t remember where I got this book. I used to collect old books and photographs. It must have been between 1996 and 2005? I can't remember. Farman wrote other books, and it seems that she had also written some children’s books. I painted every single page of this book, leaving some words and sentences floating on the page. It had 260 pages, so I must have ended up with 130 pages of painted book pages. Painting on a book page has been my go-to practice for a long time ever since I worked on "Dear John" series. It must comfort me somehow. I don't usually show these work. But I ended up giving many away and also sold many pieces at my open studio before I even thought about documenting. I documented what I was left with, which must have been less than a half of what I made from this book. One of the pieces was auctioned at a fundraising for a cancer patient. 

Another Cakes and Ales

I brought some torn pages with me when I traveled. Here are some pages from "Cakes and Ales" but done quite differently. Traveling limits me to carry fewer items. I usually just bring pens and book pages. 

at a cafe in Tuscany

Cakes and Ale

I don’t exactly remember when I started working on this book. It’s been a long time for sure. I would pick up pages from this book here and now, and paint over and cut some words. These photos were taken in the studio at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University when I was an artist in residence in 2013. I guess I'm not done with these. For now, they're stored in a box waiting for me to revisit them sometime.

The book pages are from Cakes and Ale, or, The Skeleton in the Cupboard (1930), a novel by the British author W. Somerset Maugham.

My sister posing in front of the work. All images on this post were photographed by Miho Suzuki. 

The Demon Lover

                                                                        Dead air came out

                       as she went in

Sunday Afternoon

From "Dear John" series.