Attending to Beauty

Handmade abaca and linen rag papers with plant parts and text inclusions, erasure text, wax, thread.
One-of-a-kind
Closed: 4.5 x 12 x 1 in.
Open: 36 x 12 x 4 in.
2023

Attending to Beauty is a reflection on the need for beauty in our lives, especially in times that are fraught—a recognition that beauty, the kind we actually need, does exist, and does so in our daily lives. The book is made of handmade papers made from raw abaca and linens from my matriarchal line (those lines and connections with our ancestors being another kind of beauty). Imbedded in the papers are plant pods and blooms, bits of linen and lace, and a text drawn from a dialogue with a primer on botany—looking at details, finding the beautiful in those details. This text is juxtaposed with a second dialogue from the same primer and a book of grammar delineating commonly misspelled words in the English language. Here a list emerges of those things that darken our days, that feed the need for the small ordinary things of beauty. This is not a retreat from what we face as a society, but rather a respite, a time to restore energy and remember why what we face matters.