Libby Barrett ~ Maine

Shelter
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2009. One-of-a-Kind.

10.75 x 22 x 1.25" closed; 33 x 22 x 1.25" open; triptych. Painting on birch panel.

Libby Barrett: "The book contains a painting of the Statue of Liberty on a cradled birch panel which is surrounded by patriotic stars and stripes and the well-known poem by Emma Lazarus 'The New Colossus.' This poem, which is mounted on the inner wall of the pedestal of the Statue, has greeted thousands of immigrants seeking relief from persecution and other ills."

Text: "Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, / With conquering limbs astride from land to land; / Here at our sea washed, sunset gates shall stand / A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame / Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name / Mother of exiles. From her beacon-hand / Glows world wide welcome; her mild eyes command / The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. / 'Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!' cries she / With silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. / Send these, the homeless, tempest- toss to me, / I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
$600

Pulped Fiction
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2008. One-of-a-Kind.

5.5 x 8 x 1" closed, extends to 37"; 7 folds. Accordion structure. Bound in black paper stiff boards with pulped paper adhered to the front board. Title embossed into the pulped paper.

Libby Barrett: "The title for this book had been my mind long before I knew what form it would take. When I was preparing pieces for an exhibition of altered books called Renewals, held at the Belfast Free Library in Belfast, Maine ... I decided that it was time to give form to the title. The word fiction is actually pulped fiction - a book of fiction shredded, pulped, and shaped into the letters f-i-c-t-i-o-n, which were mounted on black paper in an accordion-fold book. The cover is also made from pulped fiction with the title impressed when the paper was still damp."
$210

Worcester Cathedral
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2006. One-of-a-Kind.

7.75 x 9.375" tunnel book of the interior of the Worcester Cathedral. French door binding construction. Photograph of the exterior of Worcester Cathedral covers the front boards. Digital printing. Signed and dated by the artist.

This tunnel book memorializes a five-month period Libby Barrett spent in England in 2005 discovering as part of two choirs the magic of singing in British cathedrals. The Worcester Cathedral is one marker of her experience: "... I spent much of my time at the Cathedral. The people in these choirs became my England family, and the Cathedral one of my favorite places to be - for its architectural splendor, its wonderful music, and the friendship I found there. The layers which add visual depth to this book also represent the depth of knowledge and love that I have for this place and the people who became my friends."
$195

A Little Light Reading
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2010. One-of-a-Kind.

A construction (6 x 6 x 7") with painted black wooden base (6 x 6 x 1.65") and CFL (compact fluorescent light bulb). Bulb assembly attached to base with two screws. Bulb cover made with corrugated papers and lined with bubble wrap. Printed paper title slipped into a drawer label holder attached to base.

Libby Barrett: "The text on the light bulb follows the development of the light bulb beginning in 1809 with the creation of an arc lamp by an English chemist named Humphry Davy through the creation of today's compact fluorescent light bulbs."
(SOLD)

Web Site
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2010. One-of-a-Kind.

5.5 x 5.5 x 4.25"; four-sided drop box with lid. Origami spider. Paper cutting. Arches Text Wove over binder's board. Outer cover hand painted. Paper title label tipped on lid. Poem by the artist.

Libby Barrett: "This book is a whimsical interpretation of the theme of an exhibition entitled Spineless Wonders: Invertebrates as Inspiration for which the book was designed. The poem describes a watchful spider waiting for dinner to arrive in its web."

The web trembles
dinner has arrived
on today's menu
bluebottle fly.

(SOLD)

Production Standards
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2009. One-of-a-Kind.

5 x 7.75"; 12 leaves. Grid paper pages. Egg drawings in watercolor. Text in pencil. Spiral bound. Signed and dated by the artist.

Libby Barrett: "This book is a sort of manual of architectural and production standards for common Maine birds: preferred habitat, elevation of the nest, size and color of the eggs, and length of incubation."

Each of the 12 pages contains an original watercolor of the bird's egg with standard commercial production specs: "Project Manager: Rose-breasted grosbeak; Site Location: Second-growth woods: Elevation: 10-15 ft.; Size 24.6 x 17.7 mm; Siding: Pale gray/heavily marked; Project timeline: 12-14 days."

This book was produced for the exhibition Bird Sightings at the University of Southern Maine in 2007.
(SOLD)

Songs our Mother Taught Us
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2008. One-of-a-Kind.

11.5 x 4"; 13 pages. Painted pages.

Produced in conjunction with the exhibition Bird Sightings (Atrium Art Gallery, Lewiston, Maine, 2007).

Libby Barrett: "Each page is a painted interpretation of bird song on a musical staff which was created while listening to field recordings, and the colors used in the painting are representative of the feathers of that particular bird. Each song was given a title by anthropomorphizing these unsuspecting songsters and assigning them a human musical term, such as serenade or rhapsody, that seemed most descriptive of their performance. The paste paper cover was created using marks and color to simulate the weaving together of nesting materials."
(SOLD)

Protected
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2007. One-of-a-Kind.

5.5 x 7 x 1"; 15 loose leaves. Images slipped in individual sealed clear plastic envelopes. Black foldout cloth box with button and key clasp. Signed and dated by artist.

From umbrellas to condoms.

Libby Barrett: "Images of items that protect us from all manner of things - chemicals, thieves, disease, fire, etc. And because you can never be too careful, each photograph of a protective device is, itself, protected by a clear plastic envelope."
(SOLD)

Chocolate
By Libby Barrett
Cape Elizabeth, Maine: Libby Barrett, 2005. One-of-a-Kind.

5.5 x 5.5 x 2.125" box with pamphlet and five bon bons (ping pong balls). Constructed to simulate a box of chocolates, including gold/silver foil over faux chocolates and ribbon with seal around the box. Pamphlet: 4.5 x 4.5"; 12 pages; digitally printed.

Homage to chocolate. The pamphlet contains factoids about chocolate, from the times of Cortez in Central America to Victorian England.
(SOLD)