Jody Alexander – Keep: Modern Library

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Shakerag Hollow, Kyoto, Santa Cruz

Jody Alexander‘s Keep: Modern Library, on exhibit at the R. Blitzer Gallery in Santa Cruz, is a thoughtful and finely crafted transformation of the skins of vintage library books which have been withdrawn from circulation into textile inspired two and three dimensional art pieces that could only come out of an intimate knowledge and a deep understanding of our emotional attachment to these books as objects and our response to the ongoing process of their obsolescence.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - book skin swatches - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Book skin swatches and call numbers.

The very “skinning” of the book covers seems to me a redemptive process, hanging on, not to the words and ideas of the books themselves, which may have become outdated or superfluous, but to the remnants of our collective physical experience of them,  the bits of gilded fonts becoming abstract “art marks”, the texture and feel of the linen, the retro hues, faded and worn over time, stained with our handling – soil from our carelessness, oil from out fingers and maybe even our very DNA.  These books have been stamped with the library’s own lexicon of call numbers, due dates and recommendations: KEEP, REQUIRES FURTHER CLEANING, DISCARD. Librarian’s knowledge.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Spilled Hot Chocolate (detail) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Spilled Hot Chocolate

Skins are incorporated into swaths of stained, stamped and elaborately stitched European linen, inspired by the symbols Alexander discovered in a library cataloging book (which acted as her muse throughout the project) and by the utilitarian Japanese technique of boro, or “rags”, where that which is ripped or damaged is mended to further it’s life.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Higbee (detail 2) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Close up detail from Higbee showing some boro techniques.

In her talk and book, Keep, Alexander shares a quote from Kei Kawasaki that refers to the philosophy behind boro… “there is an old Japanese saying that you shouldn’t throw away any piece of cloth big enough to wrap three beans”.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Three Bean Rule - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Pigments and the three bean rule.

Alexander’s process  (which had even involved dragging some of her work through mud and lakes as farflung as Shakerag Hollow, Kyoto and Santa Cruz) results in sublime abstract textiles that practically breathe with new life. Beyond a tribute to their past as well loved library books, they have morphed into another artistic plane that somehow says something touching and meaningful about out better natures.

I can’t help but think of the metamorphosis of a butterfly, but where focus is on the cocoon that is shed and honored and transformed once more…

ody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - 91385, Maxwell, Bias - photo Marie Cameron 2016


91385 Maxwell Bias.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Maxwell (detail 2) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Maxwell (detail)

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Maxwell (detail) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Maxwell (detail)

This last Saturday the Jody Alexander gave a talk about her work at the gallery to a large and engaged crowd (where I gained all this insight into her art and her process).

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Talk 3 - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Keep Talk

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Talk 5- photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Keep Talk Audience

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Talk 4 - photo Marie Cameron -2016


Full House

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Missing Dress - photo Marie Cameron - 2016          Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - blue -green library books - photo Marie Cameron - 2016         Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - first piece in the series -  photo Marie Cameron - 2016

Empty dress hanger, Stack of vintage books, Alexander’s first textile book for Keep.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - with Shannon Amidon - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Jody Alexander with Shannon Amidon, both members of Bay Area Book Artists.

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Talk 2 - photo Marie Cameron - 2016


Viewing Installation

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Essential - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Essential

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Higbee (detail 1) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Higbee (detail)

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Main Stacks - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Main Stacks

Jody Alexander - Keep Modern Library - R. Blitzer Gallery - Main Stacks (detail) - photo Marie Cameron 2016


Main Stacks (detail)

Jody Alexander and Marie Cameron  - Modern Library - photo Shannon Amidon 2016


Me with my copy of Keep and artist Jody Alexander in her fabulous dress.

There’s a lovely, signed, limited edition book, Keep, inspired by the exhibit -10% of the sales from this book will be donated to the Santa Cruz Public Library for the acquisition of books for the children’s collection – that’s just how Rydell Award Recipient, Jody Alexander rolls! You can get yours at www.jalexbooks.com.

Brewing Violet Tea

Nosegay of Violets - Marie Cameron 2015I’ve been wanting to make a nosegay of violets for as long as I can remember (the violet is February’s flower and that’s the month I was born in)!  A nosegay is just what it sounds like – a happy nose. These miniature bouquets were made of fragrant flowers (as early as medieval times) to be worn close enough to smell them, on a broach or in the hair.  And what could be more perfect than the viola odoratta, the odorous violet (or sweet violet). In Victorian times this flower symbolized faithfulness and modesty and would have provided some relief from the less than pleasant scents of open sewers, horse dung filled streets and abundant body odor. For my purposes, I want to have a bouquet to match my antique teacups, as a setting for birds that I photograph and add to my painting schemes.

Violet Tea (sans oiseaux) I - Marie Cameron 2015

 

Violet Tea (sans oiseaux) II - Marie Cameron 2015

 

Violet Tea (sans oiseaux) III - Marie Cameron 2015

 

Violet Tea (sans oiseaux) IV- Marie Cameron 2015

Violet Tea stack - Marie Cameron 2015

Violet Tea stack by the studio- Marie Cameron 2015

 

The hand painting on these Bavarian teacups from the early part of the 20th century is so charming. A lovely launching point for painting my own take on violets.

Somehow making violet tea is akin to “drinking the Kool-aid” for me, creating a window where the whimsical might be possible – like a bird alighting on a teacup.

Color High

I was quite taken with this riot of retro color going on at Three Sisters in Willow Glen! All this glittery, dazzling, saturated, kitsch was set up in an alcove the size of a phone booth. I felt like I’d entered the land of Dr. Seuss!

Marie Cameron with Orange Antlered Deer

While not particularly a fan of orange, I fell in love with this little deer with her vintage coral beads and crazy orange antlers (oh, I guess she’s a he and I had wanted to call her Cora)! I thinks it’s the unexpected surprises that makes it all so fun.

Color on Crack Ornaments - Three Sisters 2013

The tree is all about complementary colors, contrasting textures, static shapes and sprays of movement. It’s vibrant and happy, I think I need a cocktail!

Pink Felix - Three Sisters 2013

My eyes are still darting back and forth (like the pink Felix the cat clock). So much stimulation, it will be interesting to try and break down these elements that I find so compelling and playful here and try to draw creative inspiration from them!

Blackberry Brambles, Cups and Saucers

Cup o' Blackberry Brambles photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

 

This is the vision I had in mind when I set out for Elizabeth’s blackberry bush with my pruners this morning.

I have been collecting china that lets me believe I could drink a  Nova Scotia summer in a tea cup!  I spent many summers collecting wild blackberries from brambles a good deal taller that I was in the woods behind our family home.  I’d come back all scratched up with ice cream containers full of berries. I’d fill up our deep stainless steel sink with water and swish the blackberries about until they were clean and glistening. Then I would strain them up into my hands like I was gathering up all the stars from the night’s sky.
Blackberry Brambles photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

I couldn’t just snip a branch and be on my way though – you never know when you’re going to need a good picture of a blackberry and they were so beautiful in the early morning light!

Blackberries Green photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

I liked these green ones hiding in the shadow of the roses, and I would have missed them if I didn’t pause to enjoy the moment. Did you know that roses and blackberries are related? I guess you don’t have to be pricked to many times to figure this one out.

Blackberries, Roses and Sky 2 photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

Then there were these dark beauties basking lush in the full sun.

Blackberries and Sky photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

I love the graceful arch of the branch laden with ripe fruit and all armed with thorns!

Blackberrie - Red, Green photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

And it’s interesting to see all the hues of ripening on the same branch.

Blackberries Close Up photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

How did I not even eat one of these? Oh, how I sacrifice for my art!

Blackberry Tea photograph by Marie Cameron 2013

Now I’m just having a hard time picking out a favorite photo, perhaps I’ll have to do more than one painting!

Blackberry Cup and Saucer photograph by Marie Cameron