Date
2024
Edition Size
unique
Media
cold wax medium, Gouache, Hematite, Indigo, Ink, Malachite, Natural Pigments, Rubbing, Turmeric pigment, Watercolor, Wax
Paper
Fabriano Tiziano
Binding
Taped, cardcover
Dimensions
30 × 20 in
Pages
22
Location
Hopewell, NJ
Collection
Collection Development, Unique Books$ 6,400.00
1 in stock
Vortex is a love story, made by intention and chance, collaboration and mystery. It swirls around past and future lives, rivers and canals, an exploration of the sound and rhythm of the circulatory system through portals in streets (utility hole covers, drains, valves and channels) and becomes a metaphor for our own depths. It lifts physical senses from the pulsing structures of Earth, and takes flight, breath on the wings of waterfowl. The imagery goes deep underground, gets under our own skin to investigate the movement of water and blood through earth and body, questioning emotions, intentions, and long-held beliefs, how we love and breathe and coexist.
The title page images were first found along the canals of the appropriately named town of New Hope, Pennsylvania, on the second meeting between Kowalski and Allerslev. That inspiration led to rubbing lines from Gerard Reidy’s poem Vortex found on a stone marker along the banks of the River Corrib in Galway, Ireland. One of the shortest rivers in Ireland, it is deep and has one of the highest flow rates. The snippets of text formed the thread that subsequently pulled together the narrative, and the wax-rubbed images were added from surfaces throughout Ireland, New York City, Philadelphia, and Hopewell, NJ. Several images were carved in linoleum specifically for this book.
Pages are Fabriano Tiziano paper with collaged wax rubbings that are subsequently dyed, distressed, and painted using watercolor, gouache, ink, turmeric, dry pigments (hematite, yellow ochre, phlalo blue), and cold wax medium in the studio.
The cover image on book cloth was carved in linoleum and inspired by the ubiquitous hexagonal patterned utility cover.