Rasa Book Project
In India the term, Rasa, translates as “the essence of a thing,” and is associated with the delight a viewer experiences when in the presence of an artwork. I consider this creation a "book" as it invites the viewer to turn the pages to reveal images and designs as well as touch and smell the surface materials. Mounted on a wall the book's pages hang like large sheets from wooden dowels. The book opens from either end and the center page is essentially the opening of a large flower created from individually dyed petal shaped papers.
Photography by Rob Colgan: Rob Colgan Photography
In India the term, Rasa, translates as “the essence of a thing,” and is associated with the delight a viewer experiences when in the presence of an artwork. I consider this creation a "book" as it invites the viewer to turn the pages to reveal images and designs as well as touch and smell the surface materials. Mounted on a wall the book's pages hang like large sheets from wooden dowels. The book opens from either end and the center page is essentially the opening of a large flower created from individually dyed petal shaped papers.
Photography by Rob Colgan: Rob Colgan Photography
Studio images: The process of creating the Rasa Book involved working with natural dyes (indigo, turmeric, and other vegetable colors) and materials brought back from India. While traveling in India with a student group from Otterbein University I was introduced to methods of dyeing and printing on textiles and paper during workshops organized by the Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi. I adopted some of these methods in my studio work - dyeing cotton sheets and papers as well as using wax resist on materials to create patterns.
Picking Out Gems, 2015
detail: Picking Out Gems
rust dyed textile with glass beads, mica and graphite
Land Marks, 2016 Pigment dyed fabric with sanded and burnished marks. Platform with clay and sediment from the Badlands,
108" H x 105" W x 4" D (platform 108" W x 13" D)
108" H x 105" W x 4" D (platform 108" W x 13" D)
Land Marks installed at Fort Hayes, Shot Tower Gallery, Columbus OH, March 2016
