Women's Studio Workshop ~ New York

War, peace, politics bookworks
Women's issues
Other bookworks produced by WSW

The Angel is My Watermark
By Barbara Beisinghoff
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2009.
Edition of 47.

9.5 x 12"; 56 pages. Typeface: typewriter, Book Antiqua , Century. Paper handmade from abaca, cotton linen, raw flax, and linen rags. Watermarked sheets heated using flexible screens. Concertina bound with multicolored etchings, silkscreen, and encaustic drawings. Illustrated paper covered boards.

WSW: "Inspired by Henry Miller's story The Angel is My Watermark and a 17th-century poem the "Song of Paper" by Father Imberdis, the artist meditates on the emancipation of the watermark."

Barbara Beisinghoff: "From January to March 2009 I produced an rtist's book titled The Angel is My Watermark at WSW in Rosendale, New York, which is the largest publisher of hand printed artists' books in the United States of America. In my book art residency I wanted to do a book about birth and creation.

"I handmade each paper of the book from raw flax as well as linen rags, added abaca and cotton linter to make pulp for 900 sheets. I experimented with different beating times to get paper which would be crisp and create a rattling sound so when the pages are turned the song of paper is heard. The signatures are sewn on an accordion folded spine and open up widely. Three voices speak out of the book: the "Song of Paper" of Father Imberdis, Barbara Beisinghoff's voice about the emancipation of watermarks, and Henry Miller's The Angel is my Watermark. ...

"The first one is "Song of Paper," written by Pater Imberdis, 1693. I silk screened the song handwritten on the spine and end sheets and in the book in Antiqua font. Jean Imberdis had written the "Song of Paper" in Latin. In this book it is translated in six languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Czech....

"The second voice describes Henry Miller's story The Angel is My Watermark. I printed the etchings, when the new-made paper was still damp. 'Every birth is miraculous and inspired.' Miller's voice is silk screened in a typewriter font.

"The third voice is my own one, about the watermark angel and the
emancipation of watermarks. It is printed in the Century font. ... The watermarked pages are created on screens, where I sew on everything, buttons and hooks, threads and wires."

Barbara Beisinghoff has been the recipient of various art prizes including the Senefelder Prize, the Mainz City Printer Prize, Art Prize Heitland Foundation, and the Georg-Christoph-Lichtenberg-Prize.
$1,000

Paper Works
a play on the possibilities of a piece of paper
By Jenny Grimyser
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2008.
Edition of 38.

11.25 x 14.25"; 9 loose leaves. Silkscreen. Printed on Mohawk Superfine paper. Laid in grey cloth bound portfolio.

WSW: "In Paper Works, a portfolio of nine silkscreen prints, Grimyser examines the possibilities of a piece of paper. With a humorous tone and playful imagery the artist explores paper, its dimensional qualities, the vastness of a page and the interaction of writing and drawing."
$350

A Book of Myths and Fates
By Nancy W. Diessner
Rosendale , New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2001.
Edition of 80.

7.75 x 7"; 30 pages. Printed digitally. Post-binding with extended fore-edge paper cover. Gatefold pages alternate with printed leaves. In wraparound cover.

WSW: "Inspired by Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, this book expresses the essential mystery of fate in terms of the spiritual, sensual, and intellectual parts of Self."

Inspired by three characters in Sophocles' ancient Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex. The Oracle, Jocasta, and Oedipus correspond respectively to the spiritual, the sensual, and the intellectual parts of ourselves. Three sections illustrate the three states. In each section, the pages fold out from a central pair of black and white images. Birds represent the spirit; water suggests the body and senses; land stands for the intellect. The book expresses the essential mystery of Fate itself.
$150

shared memories
By Lori Spencer and Wendy Spencer.
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1998.
Edition of 90.

7.5 x 8.75"; 39 pages. Pop-up book. Silkscreen and letterpress printed. Handsewn signatures with decorative stitch in soft cover. Paper: Rives heavy weight paper. Issued in paper box folder with tab closure.

WSW: "Explores the importance of memories and how they continually evolve. Eight memories are described; one on each double page spread with Lori's account consistently on the right page, her sister's on the left. The main details of the story are told in a square that pops out in the middle of the page spread, while peripheral information fills the rest of the page. The image of both sisters, surrounded with textural collage, are revealed throughout the book by the die cuts of the pop-up page. The structure of the book reflects the relationship between two sisters who spring from the same environment."
$275

What's Happening with Momma?
By Clarissa T. Sligh
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1988.
Edition of 150.

6.25 x 11.5 x 2" closed; extends to 38". Multiple accordion structure: a larger horizontal structure of 6 panels and 6 vertical accordions affixed to the horizontal panels of 8 panels each. Silkscreen and letterpress. Housed in a clear plastic box.

This dimensional, house-shaped book literally unfolds to tell an autobiographical story full of pain and confusion from the author's childhood.

Clarissa Sligh, Making Artist's Books (2002): "The emergence of a memory of a younger sister being born at home set into motion the making of What's Happening With Momma? It seemed like a simple idea, but while building and combining text with photographs, I found myself groping for the physical form it would take.

"Making book dummies led me to realize that the container had to be a small safe space. But my biggest challenge was to create a structure that would also provide a way for the viewer to interact with the book in order to 'read' it. How could I evoke with photographs, mark making and text something of the way that the Baptist preacher and the gospel and rhythm and blues singers and musicians used repetitive, rhythmic fragments to elicit the audience response necessary for the satisfactory completion of their work? Here too 'the reader' needed to interact with the art.

"After agonizing over it for months, I visited Keith Smith's home in Rochester, New York. There I saw a videotaping of a book artist, Susan Share, perform her book in order for it to be seen by the viewer. I knew immediately that her process of 'unfolding' was exactly what my piece was about. That night, a multiple accordion structure came to me in a dream. Waking up, I drew it in my sketchbook on the table beside my bed. The next morning I saw that it was the solution to the problem for which I had been searching.

"Initially the book was made using a Van Dyke Brown alternative photographic process. Negatives were pieced together and contact printed for the house-shaped accordion structure. The interior accordion pieces, printed separately on a different paper, were cut, folded and adhered to the interior of the house structure with adhesive. Using these methods, I was able to make a very small and ephemeral edition. The following year, Women's Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York, awarded me an artist residency fellowship. While there I made a different version of What's Happening With Momma? Ann Kalmbach guided me in strengthening the structure and in printing an edition of 150 books with silk screen inks and letterpress."
$450

IRON
By Tatana Kellner
Rosendale , New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2008.
Edition of 45.

12.25 x 11 x .75"; 86 pages. Silk-screened and digitally printed on Stonehenge Warm White and Glama Natural Clear papers. Casebound in tan bookcloth with scorched iron illustration on front board.

Women's Studio Workshop: "Inspired by the artist's installation of the same name, where an automated iron reveals text as it irons out a white dress shirt. The text examines the history of domestic labor and immigration, while the images document the technological progress of ironing appliances (patents included). Printed in invisible ink, the viewer reads the book by ironing the pages. DVD of the ironing installation is included."

Interactive bookmaking at its most exciting and nerve-wracking? "Instructions for use: The text in this book is revealed by ironing the pages. Set your iron up for steam on the cotton setting. Iron each page front and back and watch the text appear. If you ado not want to do your own ironing, you can keep the book in its original state. You can also send the book back to be ironed out by the artist. Additional charges apply for this service. To save money, have a significant other or a family member perform this task. Iron at you own risk."
$800

Conceal
By Cynthia Thompson
New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2005. Edition of 60.

4.25 x 6"; 10 pages (one strip). Accordion structure. Handmade pigmented cotton paper. Images (giclée prints) and text are letterpress printed on No. 4 Vandercook Printing Press using photopolymer plates. Typeface: Mrs. Eaves Italic 24 pt and Mrs. Eaves Petite Caps 24 pt. Text is author's adaptation of Genesis 3: 7-10. Casebound in brown cloth.

WSW: "Using the body as a site of intense investigation, this book exposes the physical manifestations of denial, shame and oppression. These conditions are revealed by examining the impact religion has on the construction of femininity, sexuality, and identity."
$300

relation
By Ann Lovett
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1999.
Edition of 200.

3.75 x 6.5"; 14 pages. Flag book structure. Offset printing on Mohawk Superfine paper. Paper covered boards.

WSW: "relation explores the constantly shifting network of connection and separation inherent in the fabric of intimate relationships. The book's binding structure is designed to fold flat, and expand into a sculptural, interwoven front when opened. Delicate images of fabric form a rich visual field for interlocking, shifting texts"
$200

Family
By Rita MacDonald
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1994.
Edition of 100.

3 x 7.5"; 7 pages. One folded strip of Guttenberg Laid paper producing 7 pages in an accordion structure. Silkscreen and letterpress. Housed in a wooden box with a front door, which opens by ribbon pull to reveal the accordion, which has one end attached to the box. Verso of box stamped with dictionary entry for Family.

WSW: "This book is housed in a wooden box with a front door which opens to reveal a collection of household utensils used as portraits of individual family members. On alternating pages these objects are layered over definitions of the roles to which the family members are predestined. The book investigates the idea of the family unit as a tool of socialization; creating and perpetuating gender stereotypes. The images explore our place and role within our families and beyond."
$150

Impediment
By Cheri Gaulke
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1991.
Edition of 200.

6.5 x 9.75"; 20 pages. Letterpress and color photographs. Printed on Curtis Tuscan Terra, Rives BFK, UV Ultra, and handmade paper with toenails and hair, and a seed packet. Handsewn pamphlet binding with a two-leaf pull out, which contains a pop-up. Within the pocket-like pop-up is an envelope containing a miniature metal shoe and instruction card.

WSW: "This book investigates the abuse of women's feet and footwear through the ages-from the ancient Chinese foot binding to high heeled shoes of the present. Personal and historical narratives illustrate the results of cultures' enduring foot fetish. After reading this one, you'll never be tempted to squeeze into 'just a half size smaller' again. Nested within is a pop-up which presents the reader with a packet of 'seeds' for change."
$95

Skim Milk & Soft Wax
By Dani Leventhal
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 2008.
Edition of 36.

9.5 x 12 x 2.5"; 40 pages. Printed on Mohawk Superfine and Rives Lightweight. Intaglio, letterpress, and silkscreen processes. Other materials: pencil, inkjet, and magic marker. Cover pages made of kenaf and rye fibers grown on the WSW Artfarm. Cover design of red circles resemble target with 2" rubber bullet protruding from the center. Housed in an archival grey lightweight cardboard box with clear plastic lid.

WSW: "The author, who was raised to believe that Israel is the 'land of milk and honey,' explores her Jewish identity. Leventhal’s personal experiences of Israel collide with this idyllic image. Skim milk, a substance of reduced nutritional value, and wax, the stuff of religious offerings, are used as metaphors for the complex, shape shifting, and often disappointing policies of the state of Israel. Includes 44 minute movie."
$650

Pistol/Pistil
Botanical Ballistics
By Ann Kalmbach & Tatana Kellner
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1997.
Edition of 100.

7 x 8.75 x .75"; 24 pages. Additional pages and enclosures sewn in. Accordion structure with end pages adhered to boards. Silkscreen printed on Mohawk Superfine, UV Ultra, and handmade abaca fiber paper. Bound in wooden covers with leather straps held with bullet casings.

This was deigned and printed while Kalmbach and Kellner were visiting Artists-in-Residence at the University of Southern Maine with help from their students.

WSW: "This accordion fold book examines the use of ordinary words in both botanical and military context. These definitions are juxtaposed with stories and statistics relating to farming and violence."

Judith Klau, Books as Aesthetic Objects: "Pistol/Pistil: Botanical Ballistics is bound in wooden boards held by leather and bullet casings. This book plays graphically and etymologically with the language of agriculture and the language of ordnance.

"The message of the book points primarily to the irony that many words of vegetative growth are identical to words of military destruction, beginning with 'shell' (as in peas and in guns), but immediately reminding the viewer that war alone is not responsible for all the damage inflicted on the environment: the first page details pesticide use: Farmers- 2 lbs per acre, Homeowners- 10 lbs per acre, Golf Courses- 15 lbs per acre; and the later reproduction of a news clipping reports on a woman killed by lightning in her garlic patch.

"Other cognates, like 'mushroom' and 'squash,' are illustrated by razor thin sections of actual dried vegetables in their own envelopes, by lists of 112 varieties of tomatoes surrounding a sardonic folder about using fertilizer to make bombs, and by detailed illustration of the title pair, 'pistol,' and 'pistil.' Through ironic comparisons in language and image the book presents the innocence and productive qualities of nature next to the increasingly antithetical creations of human beings."
$195

Presidential Quiz
By Ann Kalmbach, Tatana Kellner
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1997.
Edition of 75.

4.25 x 17.25"; single folded sheet, six leaves. Silkscreened accordion fold book.

WSW: "Match the hairdo to the president and test your knowledge of America's political history. This funny book, inspired by a student's info ruler, tests your visual memory."
$35

Shoot to Kill
By Ann Kalmbach, Tatana Kellner
Rosendale, New York: Women's Studio Workshop, 1997.
Edition of 50.

11.75 x 17.5"; 20 pages. Silkscreen. Spiral bound with covers of corrugated cardboard.

WSW: "Images of targets found at police firing range are paired with words which record/question/critique the use of guns in our society."
$75

Other bookworks printed at WSW
Alphabet Tricks by Diane Jacobs
Cè by Irene Chan
Current Events II / Titanic by Maureen Cummins
Remembrance by Judith Mohns

Women's studio Workshop Out of Print Titles:
• A Game of Chess
• Saints Days