Lucila Machado Assumpção ~ Brazil

Cartas para o Hemisferio Norte /
Letters to the Northern Hemisphere
By John Keith Wood
Jaguarlúna, SP, Brazil: Lucila Machado Assumpção, 2005.
Edition of 1000.

21 cm x 14 cm; 96 pages. Color illustrated wraps. Perfect bound. Bilingual text — English and Portuguese.

Lucila Machado Assumpção: "This is a limited commemorative edition of short stories by John Keith Wood [Assumpção's late husband] with original drawings by himself, edited on year after his death. It contains a small stamp that consists of a detail cut from an actual hand painted silk by Dr. Wood that illustrates on of his favorite themes: ‘The Multiplicity in the Unity.’ Each book contains one fragment of the silk, making it unique. Taken together, the books contain the totality of the work depicted on the front cover."

Cover statement: "In a personal, affectionate tone, John Keith Wood narrates his own adjustments to farming and his increasing appreciation for the history and culture of Brazil. He created with his wife, Lucila Machado Assumpção, an Ecological Reserve in Jaguarlúna/Holambra where he lived and wrote his chronicles on the rural life and the quirks of human nature, always attentive to the ‘spirit of the place.’ With gentle eyes, quiet presence, and a talent for listening, he helped each place and each person achieve harmony and fullness."
$30

The Olympic Helix
By Lucila Machado Assumpção
Jaguarlúna, SP, Brazil: Lucila Machado Assumpção, 1995. One-of-a-Kind.

6 x 6"; 14 pages. Multi-directional foldout book of handmade linen paper, which is translucent and has the feel of very thin vellum. Images and text in colored pencil, sometimes dipped in water to render the affect of watercolors. Laid in a weathered red leather wraparound with twine and leather closure.

One of several works done for the Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996), this is another of the artist’s transformation books, going from a single 6 x 6” page to an 18 x 24” sheet with an abstract design.

“Nourished Inner Flame passed Hand to Heart...”
$300

Everything Makes Sense, Every Sense Makes Change
By Lucila Machado Assumpção
Jaguarlúna, SP, Brazil: Lucila Machado Assumpção, 1994.
Edition of 500.

12.5 cm X 12.5 cm closed; 87.5 cm x 62.5 cm opened. Fold book, snake construction. In floral illustrated slipcase. Multi direction folding offset of an original watercolor.

Lucila Machado Assumpção: "In this book the perpetual play between the One and the Many became apparent. As each page is turned, the process of orderly change unfolds. And when the story of individuality has been told thusly the pages can be spread out to reveal the inseparable pattern of their fabric....

"For sensory pleasure, no explanation is necessary. One may take up this piece in one's hands, run one's fingers over the texture and "weigh" its value for oneself.

"For those who might seek it, the ‘meaning’ of the book is simple: it expresses the One in the Many. In other words, what every book does, it unfolds an individual page at a time telling a sequential step-by-step story. And upon digesting it completely, it reveals an integral whole....

"Opening the entire work, reveals a 25 x 35 inch water color painting of a wild-flower arrangement. The whole image, made up of individual sequences."
$300

Lucila Machado Assumpção: "The structure I baptized multi-faced fan, was developed around and after 1991, when I was searching for ways to express parts that combine to make a whole. How diversity may be perceived in the unity has been a quest, shared with my husband, to understand and fully live the potential of the individuality and the totality. This structure was born in the girdle tradition: books carried on the belt like the physician's book of symptoms, or the cleric's prayer book, because one might need them to perform their duties at the moment. It was generated by the desire to take art wherever I go, not exactly like a vest, but like a belief that informs my behavior, or characterizes the essence of my being.

"I like to think that the art I do is prepared for diverse situations including future space travels. It is light, allows multiple transformations, fulfills several functions, can be displayed on walls when fully open or stored in small places folded as books, fans or silk installations. In this vein it also belongs to another tradition, the venetian blind structure of books. The Tamil book found in southern India is an example: where an epic poem ‘Kambaramayanam’ was written on bamboo strips threaded together so that they could be folded up over each other or spread out flat to be read.

"I also like to think this fan is an art object that may waft constructive thoughts over those who will read it. In this way it is slightly tinted by epic tones, the choice to work on our best parts. It is committed to Beauty and also determined to search for meaning."

Corporation and Fan of Possibilities
By Lucila Machado Assumpção
Jaguarlúna, SP, Brazil: Lucila Machado Assumpção, 1998. One-of-a-Kind.

Fan: 10 x 1.5 x .8"; 28 leaves (slats of the fan); thread binding with removable screw closure. Book: 8.5 x 7" closed; 20 pages; single-sided accordion with leather and bone closure. Photo images.

A fan, Corporation, and a book, Fan of Possibilities. The book contains tipped in photographs showing possible transformations of the fan. Each of 20 transformations presents a single word or a word and image (constructed by arrayed slats) that provide a platform for the artists’ thoughts and vision. The simplest platform consists of looking at the fan end on. The most complex involves twisting the slats into a chalice structure.

When the fan is closed, its six sides each display a single word. Removing the screw at the base of the fan allows the pages to be spread out like a foreedge painting to reveal an image image. Flipping the slats reveal a different image (a double foreedge painting). Stacking the slats and spreading them reveals a word. Flipping the fan reveals a different word. The screw closure can be put in either end of the slats, which can then be spread out to reveal a series of images and words. With both ends free (the screw removed) the slats can be manipulated/transformed into a chalice.

The single work captions – anticipation, determination, harmonization, re-creation, dedication, integration, concentration, imagination, individuation, collaboration, re-generation, conservation, communication, celebration – provide focus; the images provide focus and flare; the physical transformations provide (initial) frustration and (eventual) delight. Quite an array of possibilities.
$2,100

Start from Scratch and On Start from Scratch
By Lucila Machado Assumpção
aguarlúna, SP, Brazil: Lucila Machado Assumpção, 1995. One-of-a-Kind.

Fan: 8.75 x .75 x 1"; 27 leaves; thread binding with removable screw closure. Fan enclosed in a vellum case. Book: 8 x 4.5"; 18 pages; accordion. Photo images.

A fan, Start from Scratch, and an accordion book, On Start from Scratch. As with her other fans Start from Scratch has many possible transformations. The accordion book has tipped in photographs of the fan in its various states with text by the artist.

Lucila Machado Assumpção: "I was lucky to be in Greece just before the games [in Athens, 2004] and able to climb Mount Olympus and take a picture of the fan, in its configuring as a celebratory chalice. The photo was then included in the core of the book."

The title is taken from "an expression that comes from ancient Greek foot races, where athletes started at a line drawn in the sand."
$1,800