Venice: Where Sea & Sky Meet

9.5” w x 10.25” h x 1.9” d

Composed of two accordion structures,

each with 16 pages

The slipcase is covered with Fabriano Ingres, lined with gold striped paper & embellished with a woven ribbon embroidered with crystal & other beads.

The book consists of a Fabriano Ingres accordion structure with hard covers. Stitched within is a second accordion of Hahnemühle Smooth Fine Art Paper, printed with archival inkjet images and an original text by the artist.

Beads are draped along the spine; a dangling ‘pendant’ hangs from each length.

In Between Sea & Sky, an artist book I created about Venice last year, I had explained how the first time I saw Venice I was “struck by the image of the narrow ribbon of land running between the expanse of water before it and the stretch of sky overhead.”

Venice: Where Sea & Sky Meet takes another look at this concept of the line running along the horizon. On the slipcase is a horizontal ribbon embroidered with beads, which reflects the rich embroidery of the city once you venture within that ‘narrow ribbon of land’. The spine, first glimpsed from the open end of the slipcase, is also adorned with beads. When the book is removed from the slipcase, the draping of the beads recreates the movement of the famous Venetian chandeliers, which to me seem to capture the very essence of the city’s splendor.

Though it has faded somewhat over the centuries, Venice remains generously photogenic. I’ve realized that there’s no point in putting away my camera . . . there are so many images to collect from the literally endless interplay of light and reflections, expressed through water, glass, metal, brick and stone. And after returning home, I’m always amazed at the connections to be found from one image to another: the shapes, the patterns, the colors, the textures. For Venice: Where Sea & Sky Meet I have chosen 132 photos to elaborate on the theme of the city’s rich embroidery. The printed images are stitched to the blue Ingres structure, recalling the way in which Venice’s lacy urban fabric is stitched together by hundreds of little bridges.

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~ The imagery of Venice as a narrow ribbon of land running along the horizon continues to fascinate me, and I have just completed a third variation on this theme. Photos of this latest artist’s book here... ~