Mary McCarthy ~ Massachusetts

McCarthy bookworks regarding connecting with other people, cultures, our future and our past
Bookworks on flora and fauna - the love of nature, the beauty of nature, reeking havoc on nature
Miniature bookworks by Mary McCarthy

Passage of Light
An Artists' Collaborative
By Mary McCarthy and Betsey Webber
Boston, Massachusetts: Mary McCarthy, 2004. Edition of 25.

6 x 12" closed; extends to 96"; 14 pages. Double-sided accordion hinged with cotton cloth. Pigment print reproductions printed on Epson Ultra Smooth Fine Art Paper. Text (Times New Roman 12pt) printed in black on orange Ingress paper via by an Epson 2200. Bound using Davey boards with Japanese rust-black weave cloth. Copper stamped titling (NY Times Italic Bold 36pt) on both boards.

A collaborative book by Mary McCarthy and Betsey Webber.

Mary McCarthy: "This is a visual conversation between the two women. Each person started a page by using only the left side and then sent it to the other person to respond."

Colophon: "Mary and Betsey chose to work on a collaborative project setting limitations of size, media and the type of paper to be used. Betsey used watercolor, Mary worked with paper collage. Subject matter was not discussed, though it was a very gloomy January when they started, which possibly influenced their work. Each artist started her own series producing a six by six inch image on a six by twelve inch piece of paper leaving the right side blank. They exchanged images and responded to each other in their own visual voices.

"Mary: 'The project was initially intimidating, working on someone else's piece was new for me. Problem solving and visual communication in this format was exhilarating.'

"Betsey: 'It was a challenge, wonderful and aggravating all at once because the anticipation of receiving the new piece was met with angst about rising to Mary's high level of art. It was never easy, always interesting."
$925

Birds of Africa
By Mary McCarthy
Boston, Massachusetts: Mary McCarthy, 2008. Edition of 26.

6.25 x 6.5 x 1.25"; 30 pages. Pigment printed by Martin Berinstien with an Epson 4000 on Enhanced Matte paper. French fold binding. Side-sewn: Japanese Tea House stitching with Black linen cord. Bound with Japanese cloth spine in terra cotta and Yusen paper over Davey board. Housed in cloth-covered drop spine box.

An editioned artist book created from McCarthy's one-of-a-kind alphabet book. The original images were paper collages of 26 birds found on the continent of Africa with text handwritten in brown acrylic ink. These images were scanned and printed for the editioned version.

Birds: African Fin Foot, Bee Eater, Cuckoo, Denhams Bustard, Elephant Bird, Flamingos, Guinia [sic] Fowl, Hornbill, Ibis, Jacana, Kingfisher, Long- tailed Ground Roller, Malimbe, Nightjar, Ostrich, Plover, Quelea, Rednecked Spurfowl, Secretary Bird, Tacazze Sunbird, Upupa epaps, Vulture, Widow Bird, oXpeckers, Yellow-crowned Bishop, and Zoothera quttata.
$575 in box
($475 without box)

Enchanted Spirit
By Mary McCarthy
Boston: Mary McCarthy, 2007. Edition of 10.

7.25 x 10”; 28 pages. Rolled post spine. Bound in quarter Asahi black cloth with Lokta paper over board. End sheets of crinkled brown paper. Each cover has an embossed iguana image. Printed on Epson Enhanced White paper by an Epson 9600 printer. Typeface: Rage Italic 20 pt.

Images combine photographs of Northern New Mexico with paper collage to interpret the place where two cultures — Native American and Hispanic — have come together. The text describes the landscape and cultures while the images offer visual support of a co-existence that smoothes the edges of separateness.
$850

Cherokee Creation Myth
By Mary McCarthy
Boston, Massachusetts: Mary McCarthy, 2006. One-of-a-Kind.

10 x 3.875"; 20 pages. Rives Light Weight covers, Davey board with suede cloth spine, paper trim, and Japanese blue gold cloth. Endsheet panels with paper collage images, two at front, four at back. Images of paper collage, unryu papers, gouache, Polaroid lifts, and various decorative papers. Text handwritten in brown acrylic ink.

This story was published in Primal Myths by Barbara Sproul (Harper & Row, 1979). It first appeared in Myths of the Cherokee, 19th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, Part 1, by J. Mooney (Washington, DC, 1897-98).
$1,200

archetypal illuminations
By Mary McCarthy
Boston, Massachusetts: Mary McCarthy, 2004. Edition of 3.

7.75 x 6.125" closed; extends to 33.5 x 13.5". Includes miniature book 2 x 2.125". Fold-out book with seven panels. Binders board covered with Japanese rayon silk cloth in gold/purple. Side hinges and front panels covered in purple suede cloth. Magnets on front panels to hold the miniature book. Text printed in New Berdina, with sepia ink on Crane's cotton paper. Bound with Japanese gold cloth spine and Yusen paper over board.

Mary McCarthy: "Premise of the book is the connections various cultures and religions have throughout time by use of the same numbers (3,4, and 7), shapes (circle, square, and triangle), and colors (red, white, black, and yellow). The book unrolls into an altar-like sculpture."

Text: "We should learn to recognize our kinship to one another, embrace our shared heritage and humanity."
$1,500 (Last copy)

Making Connections
By Mary McCarthy
Boston: Mary McCarthy, 2003. One-of-a-Kind.

9 x 4 x 1.5” closed; extends to 33”. Eight-panel accordion with attached signature at each end. Attached signatures have exteriors bound in Lucky Sea Foam Green Chinese cloth and interiors covered with a collage of Yusen Diamond pattern. End signatures have text printed on heavyweight cream parchment in dark blue by Epson printer, Script MT Bold. The 8-panel accordion (exterior covered in gold Japanese cloth, the interior in a gold Loquat) contains collage using cut-paper images. Renaissance wax applied to protect the paper. Housed in cloth covered box.

The parables, one traditional, one Sufi, come from Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart (Harper Collins, 1991).

Mary McCarthy: "The premise of this book is to look at cultures and religions that seem to be foreign to us and find how very similar we really are....

"Imagery is of Mosque-like structures … and various tile designs. Symbols of luck (the hand, circular silver pieces) and life (snake, lizard. and turtle) run through the space...."

"For me, it is important to understand the human condition, respect our differences, embrace similarities, and try to understand our place in the natural world. I mix and blend ideas from a variety of cultures, looking for universal truths and simple answers to abstract complex questions...."
$1,200

Ode to Iris
By Mary McCarthy
Boston, Massachusetts: Mary McCarthy, 2006. One-of-a-Kind.

6.375 x 13 x 2.75"; 12 panels. Accordion fold. A box of Davey board covered with silver checked cloth and metallic gold interior houses a two-sectioned accordion fold (6 panels/section) of paper collage renderings of the iris in various stages of growth. A purple-cloth pouch attached to the front panel of one section houses a 10 x 15" scroll with a poem “Ode to Iris.” The scroll, designed to be hung, is of purple Nepalese Lokta paper around a 1.5 x 10" painted dowel with glass bead ends. Text printed in blue ink (18 pt Lucida Calligraphy) by an Epson 2200 printer.

Homage to the iris by a lover of paper.
$3,000

Sylvan Sounds
By Mary McCarthy
Boston: Mary McCarthy, 2006. Edition of 2.

4.25 x 4.5" closed; extends to 54". Double-sided accordion. Fabriano paper, gouache, Polaroid transfers and lifts, unryu and paste papers. Davey board covers with handmade oil paper. Images on one side and text, handwritten in brown ink, on opposite. Accordion booklet with same text attached to cover with magnets.Text printed with an Epson 2200, brown ink, Brush script font 12 pt. Images and text by artist. Housed in cloth-covered box.

Mary McCarthy: "Imagery is based on two photographs reproduced and repositioned to make a variety of wooded landscapes."

Text: "Pines whisper / leaves chatter as the wind passes through ... sounds of earth."
$1,800 (Last copy)

Troubled Waters
By Mary McCarthy
Boston: Mary McCarthy, 2003. One-of-a-Kind.

12-panel accordion in two 6-panel sections; each panel 6.25 x 4"; together and totally extended 49". Panels: exteriors bound in Japanese purple/gold cloth over Davey Board; interiors are Rives BFK Heavyweight gouache-dyed with paper collaged images of sea life, all framed with Yusen print paper. Scroll (5.5 x 25.5" extended) on glass dowels with .5" decorative Gasen paper at ends contains text by artist handwritten in copper ink. Scroll and panels housed in sectioned cloth covered box.

Accordion shows "cool clear waters"; text lists oil spills and hence 'troubled waters."
$2,200