Wimən | W3l R3d
A play on pronunciation and the way things are read.
This artist book was designed and bound after the manner of the Medieval Vade Mecum, a type of girdle book. Girdle books were worn usually by monks or those who often found themselves in prayer and needed their prayer books to be quickly accessible. A knot or cord would be secured to the book and then looped onto the person's belt or girdle. The most widely known girdle books are those that exhibit the typical case bound book wrapped in leather. The less widely known is the Vade Mecum, which was mostly used by physicians and astrologers of the time. Also known as a folded almanac, these girdle books would hold large diagrams and charts that could be unfolded for use.
The concept of this piece is based off the pronunciation of the word red and the word for the past form of read. Several words that have been given as the meaning of the color red were used in conjunction with characteristics that certain female literary characters (both fiction and non-fiction) also exhibited. These characteristics and meanings were written as prayerful mantras for those seeking to have them.
The book is made by hand from wove paper, artificial sinew, leather strips, and paper book cloth made to look like leather. The folded pages were written and illuminated by hand.
Size: 3"x6"; pages unfold to 9"x10.5"
Edition of 5
