Kate Burns had the opportunity to visit artist member Carolyn Shattuck at her Open Studio event, held in conjunction with the Vermont Crafts Council in Rutland, Vermont on Memorial Day weekend. Carolyn candidly spoke about her bookmaking and printing processes as well as her inspirations while allowing Kate and her father, Dave, who was visiting the east coast from Montana, to nose around her workspace and take some pictures. Kate and Carolyn worked collaboratively to develop the following interview.
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| Shattuck Gallery Open Studio, May 26, 2013 (photo by Kate Burns) |
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| Carolyn Shattuck at her Open Studio event, May 26, 2013 (photo by Kate Burns) |
The Center’s website features your
bio under its Artist Member section. In it, a special method of monotype
printing is mentioned as being an “unusual approach,” incorporating fiber dyes. Can you talk a little about the method and how you arrived at
using it?
Almost all my collaged two-dimensional work incorporates the
resist between water-based fiber dyes and oil-based etching ink. The
process is multifaceted. It combines the regular monotype vocabulary
interspersed with independent printings of drypoint. I paint water-based fiber dyes onto parchment paper. After it is
dry, I assemble the painted shapes into the composition. Collaged
shapes can be pressed onto inked, linoleum-carved surfaces in order to
obtain a layering of water-based shape with an oil-based motif. The water-based shape
resists the oil-based one. The combinations are boundless. I also employ a drypoint technique at various stages, which is done as a
separate printing. This technique is known for very specific renderings—
objects
are described by lines. The two methods are combined through registration on
the press.
This
process has been radical in my career development, because I was trained
as a painter and the ability to continue painting with fiber dyes onto
parchment, plus incorporate a collage approach with an oil-to-water resist method is exciting. I
extended this process by adding the drypoint, because I like the
juxtaposition of specific line to mass. The
fiber dyes are non-toxic as well as the drypoint, which is important to
me. Ironically, the process requires un-sized
printing paper which is no longer being manufactured.
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Walkabout 1,
2010, monotype/drypoint/collage, 27 x 32 inches
(digital image provided by the artist) |
Your bio
also mentions a trip to China in 1996 to visit your son. What was it about your
encounter with the Terracotta Warriors that inspired you? Can you describe the
experience of witnessing the warriors?
My family and I visited Xian, China where the Terracotta Warriors have been unearthed over the the past thirty-five
years. A farmer discovered the site while digging for a well in the clay-mounded terrain. As I entered the immense arena, which housed the life-sized figures, I was struck by
the silent stares of thousands of these
warriors. Their purpose was to escort Emperor Qin Shi Huang through this underground palace to an afterlife.
More than seven thousand pottery soldiers, well-armed with weapons, are stationed to reflect that Emperor Shi Huang had a military force of one million warriors, one thousand battle chariots, and ten thousand cavalrymen. The Qin dynasty dates back two thousand years. The layouts of the three vaults depict miniature battle formations. These buried, fragmented regiments have been unearthed
to allow scholars to reconstruct ancient battle strategies. Archaeologists working on the site consider the mausoleum a sacred and enchanting complex.
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| Terracotta Warriors (photo courtesy of www.beijingdiscoverytours.com) |
After leaving the site I felt compelled to interpret the evocative qualities of this
incredible work. The viewing of the
warriors in the huge pit was overwhelming because
of their numbers, the battle formations, and the unifying color. Some
people have referred to them as the eighth wonder of the world.
While staring at them in the pit, there was a silence of
many faces
staring at you that was riveting. Each face had a different expression.
It was
spiritual and evocative of trying to understand Chinese history.
Is there a direct correlation between the Terracotta Warriors and your
interest in New England tombstones and Puritan folk urns? How do these two very
different cultural and geographic locations present death?
I never associated a link between the Terracotta Warriors and the Puritan
tombstone imagery. The idea of investigating death imagery emerged from a
conversation I had with three sculptors, whom I worked with for three years.
We
organized exhibitions in Vermont and New York State, which showed work called The Country of Souls. We
also organized panel discussions with ministers and hospice workers. One time, we
held a group discussion with students at Castleton State College, and one
of the students spoke about his experience as a grave digger. In 1975, my
husband and I lost our 4 year-old daughter, Anna, to an infectious disease. The
impact of her death has continued to resonate in my work in some way.
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The Urn Book, 2007
cover fold, designed with a continuous hinge
printed drypoint on BFK Rives
12.5 x 12.5 x 20 inches open |
When we began, we tossed around subject matter until
we agreed upon the Puritan tombstones as well as the need to explore our society's
reluctance to talk about death. This was before Bill Moyers,
one of the first television documentarians
to question our reluctance to speak about the final stage of life. He saw the
fear in our society and therefore the need to sanitize dying behind hospital
sheets. If we were not confronted by death, we could be in denial. Since the 1990s, I believe that more
work has been done to educate and raise awareness of the dying process. It
still is a tough topic.
In
the midst of visiting cemeteries in Vermont, in order to see and feel the
experience of these people who were not allowed to express themselves
artistically, I discovered that the connection for me was also being a newly
naturalized American citizen. This experience was a ritual or rite of
passage to citizenship. I
felt I was learning a piece of American history,
and therefore it made me feel part of the bigger picture as a new American. Just as the Puritans adapted to a new country when they immigrated to the
United States, I also experienced some challenges when I arrived here in 1970. Even
though Canada and the United States share many common traits, I discovered that I was to
assimilate into being an American and my heritage was not important. I have tried to maintain certain
customs and traditions in my family that speak to my heritage. I can only
assume that the Puritans maintained certain traditions.
Bright
color and pattern seem to be prominent elements in your work that come together
in a collaged manner, either through two-dimensional layering or
three-dimensionally, as in your pop-up books. Can you tell me about your
planning process for making the layers of a pop-up book come together, both functionally
and conceptually?
In the
beginning, learning about book arts, I followed
instructions
from Shereen LaPlantz's books. Basically, they are "how-to"
exercises. I was enthralled with the folds, closures, and mechanisms employed
to make them close or pop or stand up. I had a love for combining the
structures. I felt my weakest point was being comfortable with words. One of my
friends helped me by saying that I needed to "just put it down as I was
speaking.” That was a start. Further along, I became interested in digitally
generated images. I would physically make a collage, photograph it and then
bring it into Photoshop Elements for editing and resizing. I printed it and
made pop-up books. Lately I have been doing more scanning and copying, such as
in
The Quilts of Gee's Bend. Some
books, like
The Urn Book require a
serious mock-up, which took a month to make.
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He
Had No Words,
pop-up
with coil and slipcase, presentation and Lama Li paper,
10.25 x 9 inches closed, edition of 20 (photo by Kate Burns) |
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The Quilts of Gee’s Bend, Vol. 2
flexagon book, printed on Epson and Strathmore papers,
3.5 x 8.5 x 8.5 inches, edition of 25 (photo by Kate Burns) |
How did you come to be
connected with the Center for Book Arts?
I’m not sure how I came to be involved with the Center, but Mark Waskow was looking at my work and talked about it. So, I’m betting I got involved based on this conversation. He was on the Center’s board at the time.
What are you most excited about
working on next?
I would like to make another flexagon but larger
in scope than The Quilts of Gee's Bend. The subject matter will be honoring Art
Deco and/or Art Nouveau designs. I also look forward to making a fabric-covered
container for The Triple-decker and exploring the imagery of Australian
Aboriginal art.
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| The Triple-decker, front view (photo by Kate Burns) |
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| The Triple-Decker, back view (photo by Kate Burns) |
The interweaving accordion book
I call The Tripledecker represents triple-decker houses, which were built in the United States to
accommodate newly arrived immigrant workers and their families.The apartments
are decorated with textiles, fabrics and tiles that are visually intermingled
with those of other ethnic families, signaling a wide range of diversity. Like
the flags displayed at the U.N., this represents a melting pot of ideas and
tolerance for coexistence.
-Kate Burns
I just returned from a trip
through Europe. While each city had its
own unique architecture and attractions, my husband and I were repeatedly greeted
by one prevailing theme – brides. Nearly
everywhere we looked, there was another flowing wedding dress. So, to celebrate the season of brides, this week’s
Reference Collection highlight is “The Paper Bride: Wedding DIY from Pop-the-Question
to Tie-the-Knot and Happily Ever After” by Esther K. Smith (REF.BM.0019). 
