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Paper Towers is both an exhibition of a work in progress, and an entity unto itself. These are the carefully rendered engraving blocks, drawings, test prints and ephemera of the most recent artist book by Portland artist Sarah Horowitz. A rigorously trained printmaker and devoted drawer, Horowitz’s artist books, etchings and drawings explore the nuances of organic form, poetry, and memory. Horowitz’s craft is also informed by her passionate interest in biology. In addition to completing graduate work in printmaking, Horowitz received undergraduate degrees in math and physics from Hampshire College. Describing Paper Towers, Horowitz writes: “The inspiration for Paper Towers came from my memories of eastern European folktales and the dark illustrations that accompanied them. I imagined a swirl of text and dense black ink and wanted to tell a story. In my research I came across the poems of Kadya Molodowsky and was drawn to the images she created with words. They wove worlds around me. The work that has evolved is a handmade book of five poems and engravings. The engravings are the product of the poems filtered through my memory. The sparks that are letters and words, both sacred and profane, are its essence. I have wrapped the book in them. Kadya Molodowsky was born in 1894 in Bereza Kartuska, a town located in White Russia. Molodowsky was unusually well educated, first by her grandmother who taught her the alphabet and Yiddish prayers, and then by her father and Russian tutors with whom she studied Torah, Russian language, geography, philosophy, and world history. This education enabled Molodowsky to earn a teaching certificated at age 18. She began teaching in the schools of Yechiel Halperin, a Hebrew revivalist, helping to develop modern Jewish secular education. World War I forced Molodowsky to travel extensively as the schools where she taught were relocated.” Paper Towers is printed on Velke Losiny—a handmade Czech paper—by Inge Bruggeman at Textura Letterpress, Portland. The book is bound and boxed by Claudia Cohen of Seattle in handmade Dutch windmill paper. Paper Towers is funded in part by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Portland, Oregon. The Hauser Memorial Library is open to the public during the school year (beginning August 29) from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Sunday. The Library is closed for certain holidays. Library hours may be confirmed on the web at: LIBRARY HOURS. |
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