Books as Life: 2024 Member's Exhibition

Marcus

Claire Marcus

 

CLAIRE MARCUS has a special interest in landscape’s power to evoke narrative. She has exhibited with Centre for Print Research; Cincinnati Book Arts Society; Frontline Arts; Kalamazoo Book Arts Center; Philadelphia Art in City Hall; Philadelphia Center for the Book; Philadelphia Print Consortium; San Francisco Center for the Book; and Turn the Page Artist’s Book Fair.

Claire Marcus holds an MFA in painting and BA in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. Her work is held in national and international, public and private collections.

 

LINCOLNSHIRE:THE DISPUTES

LINCOLSHIRE: THE DISPUTES is inspired by recorded border disputes in Domesday Book. The area was hard-hit by retaliation for resistance to the Norman Conquest. Domesday writers took special care to document the claims, or Clamores of all parties concerned. Their efforts give a vivid picture of legal reconciliation attempts. The suminagashi technique allowed me to reference the fenland and maritime culture of the region. The collaged maps imply the political change that had little effect on local customs. Like BLACK OAK TABLE, this book reflects the East Anglian culture I've been fortunate to experience in my travels. It is part of the continuing HOLDING PATTERNS series, inspired by the 1086 Domesday Book: a book that has sparked many of my artist's books. While Domesday is regarded as a record of England's economy after the Norman Conquest, for me it is a Book of Lives changed or ended by conflict, themes that are all too current.

10.5"x8.5"x51"
Altered maps and Domesday Book text collaged with suminagashi. Accordion structure
2018

ADELINA JOCULATRIX: EMERALD AND AMETHYST

ADELINA JOCULATRIX: EMERALD AND AMETHYST is one of thirty imagined portraits of an artist recorded in Domesday Book. One of the few women described by profession, Adelina was rewarded for her work with property. The orizomegami technique allowed me to reference the harlequin pattern associated with a jester or Joculatrix. We do not have Adelina's music or writings, but we are free to imagine her character and personality. This book is part of the continuing HOLDING PATTERNS series, inspired by the 1086 Domesday Book: a book that has sparked many of my artist's books. While Domesday is regarded as a record of England's economy after the Norman Conquest, for me it is a Book of Lives changed or ended by conflict, themes that are all too current.

8.5"x1.5"x36"
Orizomegami on sumi paper, board covers, accordion structure
2022

BLACK OAK TABLE

BLACK OAK TABLE reflects the cultural life of East Anglia, where I have enjoyed several visits. It is part of the continuing HOLDING PATTERNS series, inspired by the 1086 Domesday Book: a book that has sparked many of my artist's books. While Domesday is regarded as a record of England's economy after the Norman Conquest, for me it is a Book of Lives changed or ended by conflict, themes that are all too current. The structure here intertwines the carved angel roofs and the mathematical change-ringing of bells that mark the Cambridge region. The paintings are my own. Suminagashi indicates the fenland, isolating geography of the area. The title refers to the new, forty-foot Black Oak Table, a collaborative work built from a recently unearthed local tree.

7"x6"x.5"
Digital photographs, altered paintings and text, suminagashi, cut-pleated, Coptic stitched
2023