Cheri Gaulke ~ California

Frogskin
By Cheri Gaulke
2005. Edition of 100.

Written, designed, and printed by the artist, based on the video installation "Once Upon a Time." Printed on an Epson Stylus Pro 7500 with archival ink on Epson doubleweight matte paper. The structure is a snake fold with pull-out panels. Imagery created by scanning leafy materials and human skin on a flat bed scanner.

"Approach the throne / my beloved" begins the poetic, erotic text that hops over pages of leafy lushness. Two pull-out pages add a subtext of folklore and scientific mystery. This is a cautionary tale: don’t fail to recognize the marvelous, because it’s transitory—once it’s gone, it’s lost forever. Disturbing and beautiful.
$175

Marriage Matters
By Cheri Gaulke & Sue Maberry
2005. Edition of 50.

In a year of intensifying public debate about the freedom to marry, Cheri Gaulke and Sue Maberry invited 10 lesbian and gay couples to go to Sears and have their portraits taken. The portraits were accompanied by personal stories and the story of Maberry and Gaulke’s own 26-year relationship in an artists’ book, Marriage Matters. The book raises the question “when your relationship is not legally recognized, what does marriage matter?” Ten lesbian and gay families reflect upon this question and the matter of their lives together. The Sears portraits give a glimpse of these queer (not strange) families. (This was Gaulke and Maberry’s third Sears portrait project, in which they invert this middle-American tradition to question what and who defines family. The previous projects were installations that have been exhibited widely.)

Marriage Matters was written by Cheri Gaulke and designed by Gaulke and Sue Maberry. It was color laser printed on iridescent Stardream paper in shades of purple, lavender, white and peach with a silk ribbon closure. The accordion spine allows the book’s covers to open back and be held with the silk ribbon. With the alternating vertical and horizontal pages splayed open, the book’s shape resembles a two-tiered wedding cake. This book is luscious looking and filled with juicy details!

This book was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department.
$250

Offerings at the Crossroads
By Cheri Gaulke & Sue Maberry
2005. Edition of 100.

A pouch made of multi-colored Balinese sarongs contains an artists' book whose design is inspired by traditional palm-leaf books. Indonesian teak covers are held together by a central red cord and batiked wooden beads. It is digitally printed on an Epson Stylus Photo 2200 with archival inks and Epson watercolor paper. Each pouch is unique. Each book is signed and numbered.

A true story. One lesbian trying to get pregnant; one gay man dying of AIDS. Life; death. The struggle to make life; the struggle to hold on to life. The ironies compound and cancel each other, until what is left are the dignity of struggle and sanctity of possibility.

"Mark began dying of AIDS long before I began trying to conceive, both of us racing against the inevitability of time" begins the text of Offerings at the Crossroads. The pages within tell the story of a journey between birth and death and a magical trip to Bali. The imagery includes Balinese scenes and the lovely textures and colors of woven, batiked and dyed fabrics that were scanned on a flatbed scanner.

Offerings at the Crossroads was written and designed by Cheri Gaulke and Sue Maberry, and based on the award-winning videotape, Sea of Time. The book is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles, Cultural Affairs Department.
$225