Throughout history and especially now, artists have been and continue to be interested in the “materiality” of the art making process. In the twenty-first century, it is not uncommon for artists to use multiple materials and various mediums to create their finished work. This case represents historic uses of metal, such as an embossed silver relief book cover or gold leaf applied to the surface of dried paper, as well as a revolutionary combination of wet pulp and metal.
Dorothea Rockburne,Copper, Paper Pulp, and Dieu Donné #8,2003.
Collaborators: Susan Gosin and Megan Moorhouse.
Dorothea Rockburne says, “I see material as having energy. The energy of the copper is a completely different energy from what I feel from the paper pulp . .. I also became aware of how the papermaking process affected the paper pulp—you know, to me, one of the interesting things in life is to see how things that don’t want to interact, must interact.”
Rockburne discovered that by pouring wet pigmented pulp onto sheets of copper and pressing it in a platen press under tons of pressure, the explosion of the pulp on the copper surface produced the galaxy-like imagery she was exploring in her research about space.
Courtesy of Dieu Donné Papermill, NY.
Stephen Antonakos,Untitled Silver Relief (F-2), 1987.
This silver relief work demonstrates Antonakos’ attention to light, space, and reflections, as well as his attention to craftmanship during his collaboration with expert metal workers in Greece. The silver casting process followed the traditional methods of making bible covers. This silver relief, and its fabrication, closely resembles the striking silver cover for one of the books in his edition of ALPHAVITOS.
The silverwork for the cover of ALPHAVITOS was done by Anastasios Mavropoulos, Athens, and a similar process was followed for this relief.
ALPHAVITOS reflects Stephen Antonakos’ attention to light, geometry, and rhythm that is also present in his architectural work and sculpture.
Steven Antonakos’s studio states, “The structural theme is the Greek alphabet.We see it first as just three letters — alpha, bita, gamma — then with more characters each time, then finally the entire alphabet — alpha through omega.These pages are not ink printed on paper, but blue paper pulp eimbedded in lighter blue hand-made papers — an innovation worked out by the artist with the creative people at Dieu Donné e Papermill.All the collaborators were inventive and much appreciated.”
Cuts and collages by Stephen Antonakos. Images printed by Julie D’Amario and Bill Hall (Printmaking Workshop, NY).Silkscreen by Jo Watanabe (Brooklyn, NY).Bound by George Wieck (Hopewell Junction, NY).
Edition of 8 with slight variations in binding style.
Courtesy of Stephen Antonakos Studio LLC
Jim Hodges,Here Comes the Dark,2007.
Jim Hodges applied gold-leaf to the surface of black paper. The imagery produced from the cuts into gold-leafing resembles a spiderweb and is accentuated with floral cutouts.
Courtesy of Dieu Donné Papermill, NY.
Tricia Wright,Singing Hand,2026.
Deluxe book: Edition of 25 and 10 Proofs, with 10 artist proofs of artwork only.
