| Inky Press Productions bookworks by Bea Nettles Iceland Books from residency at Harfnarborg Cultural Center One of a kind books by Bea Nettles Documenting Family Documenting Women's Issues |
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Indra's Net 4 x 22" scroll. Housed in a handmade circular tube, which is covered on one end by a tyvek lid with attached glass bead. Silver bell attached to interior of lid. Housing covered with sumingashi marbled silk. Printed on cotton rag paper by an Epson printer. Scroll verso marbled using sumingashi technique. Ribbon tie closure for scroll. "Indra's Net" is a poem by Grace Noble Nettles from the book Corners: Grace and Bea Nettles. Grace Nettles, the bookmaker's mother, died in 2007. She was a teacher and a poet. Bea Nettles: "This new scroll has just been completed in an edition of nine. The tubular boxes were crafted with hand marbled silk and silver tyvek coverings. When the lid is lifted, you will ring a small silver bell. The poem is printed on a spider-web background."
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A is for Applebiting Alligators 4.125 x 5.125"; 26 pages. Codex, staple bound, lavender paper cover. Housed in fake alligator slipcase machine stitched. Offset printed in black with lavender silkscreen additions. Printed at the Visual Studies Workshop. An alphabet book by Bea Nettles comprised of photo montages and drawings. "Z for Zillions of Zooming Zebras" $400 (Last Copy) |
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| Work from Nettles' residency at Harfnarborg Cultural Center in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland in the summer of 2007. | |
Mind and Memory 4 x 8 x 1"; 16 pages. Each page is a photomontage printed on an Epson printer. Cloth-covered boards with paper title on front board. Spine bound in red fish leather. Bea Nettles: "While in Iceland last summer [2007], I made a collage book entitled Mind and Memory inspired by the story of Odin’s two ravens named Hugin and Munin, [or] mind and memory. These birds sit on his shoulders and fly out daily to return with news of the world. The original CIA "I have made a small edition of three more of this book, using Epson prints and exotic papers. The books are chunky pages bound together with strips of fish leather, a product produced in Iceland."
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Snorri's Pool 4 x 7.75 x 1.25; 14 pages. Cloth over bookboard covers with Icelandic fish skin spine. Paper title inset in front board. Collage on bookboard printed by Epson inkjet. During Nettles, residency at Hafnaborg Cultural Center in Hafnarfjördur, Iceland, in the summer of 2007, she visited and photographed several historic locations, including Snorri's Pool. The pool was constructed by 13th-century scholar-chieftain Snorri Sturluson at his home at Reykholt, west Iceland. Snorri's Pool is unusual in being man-made (normally the geothermal pools were natural) and is one of a few constructions preserved from Iceland’s medieval period. The collaged pages include excerpts by and about Sturluson, but the major focus is the feel of Iceland rendered by the craggy collages and the rocky palatte of the photographs. |
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Foss: The Legendary Waterfalls of Iceland Four hardbound 4 x 3" accordion books, each 8 pages, housed in cloth-covered box with lift-off lid (4 x 3 x 3"). Title on handmade paper on box cover. Signed inside box lid. Prints on Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Matte (10.4 mil thick) using the K3 Ultrachrome 8 color ink system. Opened books are 20" long. Lionel Suntop: "This mossy [colored] boxed set contains accordion books featuring four waterfalls that cascade out of the viewer’s hand. The text relates their stories and geographical facts. All of the photographs were taken by Bea Nettles in Iceland in the summer of 2007." The four falls: Barnafoss (Children's Falls); Godafoss (Gods' Falls); Gullfoss (Golden Falls); and Skógafoss (Forest Falls). |
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Four Guardians 6 x 6" closed; 18.25 x 19" open. Bound on four sides so that pages open out into a cross format. Images Epson color prints on Epson lustre photo paper. Map, a lazer cut image of Iceland with the four sites marked by gold-leafed stars. Bound in Black Rayon book cloth. Slipcased, signed, and numbered. This book was made while Nettles was in residence at Harfnäborg Cultural Center in Hafnärfjordur, Iceland. All photographs taken by Bea Nettles in Iceland (summer 2007). The text is a translation (from the original Old Norse) of Heimskringla: Norwegian Kings (Volume 3, Chapter 37) by Snorri Sturluson. Bea Nettles: "This book shows the mythical journey of the warlock, in the form of a whale, who circled Iceland to spy for Kind Harald of Norway. At every cardinal direction he was blocked by a guardian: Dragon, Eagle, Bull and Giant. These four beings are found on the back of every Icelandic krona." |
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| Documenting family has been a consistent activity throughout Nettles'work | |
14 Mysteries 3.75 x 2 x .75" closed; extends to 17"; 4 pages. Accordion book. Printed on Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Paper Luster 10.4 mil thick using the K3 Ultrachrome 8-color ink system. Leather cover with embedded key. Slipcase with letterpress title. Bea Nettles: "14 Mysteries is an accordion book that features the keys that were found years ago in our home when we moved to Illinois." Text which runs along the bottom edge underneath the images of the keys: "These keys were found in a cluster when we moved here in 1984. Their purposes have long been forgotten. After twenty two years they hang on a hook in the basement. No one has the heart to just throw them away. One never knows when their role in our house will be revealed." |
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Aging Gracefully 6.5 x 5" closed; extends to 12". Tunnel book of Epson prints of the artist's mother from a young girl of 5 to a woman in her 80's. Printed on acid free paper in sepia tones. Cut on a laser cutter. Bound in gold book cloth. Housed in a cloth-covered slipcase with an image of the mirror on the front. Originally published as an edition of 2 designed in black-and-white in 2001. Here images of Nettles' mother document the passage from childhood through maturity. The body changes, the roles change — school girl to bride to parent — one life. Dedicated to Nettles' mother, Grace. |
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Rachel's Holidays 7.5 x 7.75 "; 32 pages including free end pages. 15 color images scanned from the original color negatives printed using an Epson 4800 printer. Printed on cotton rag paper. Housed in lightweight paper slipcase in Christmas colors. Bound in red leather with paper title on cover. Exposed stab binding with three green leather accent strips entwined horizontally. Bea Nettles, Colophon: "I printed six sets of the images in this book in 1984 using the dye transfer process. Dye transfer printing was complicated, but worth the trouble, as it was considered one of the most permanent color printing methods. The method was discontinued with the advent of digital photography. Materials for this process no longer exist." From the introduction: "This sequence draws upon the events in my daughter Rachel's life during the 'holiday' season from Halloween through Christmas in 1983. That Thanksgiving, our family traveled to Sanibel Island, Florida, a place justifiably famous for outstanding shelling. Her memories of that trip, and the events and traditions associated with the fall and winter holiday season are the basis for the images which begin and end with Rachel lost in thought in Sanibel." |
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Family Resemblance: 5.5 x 7.5"; 57 pages. Codex grey-green cloth bound, grey end sheets. Signed inside front. Over 75 family photos, predominately black-and-white. Includes index of photos with dates and locations. Bea Nettles: "My Grandmother Noble gave me my first camera when I was ten years old. She didn't purchase it, but had received it as a bonus of some sort. It was red plastic and took wide roll film. This was in 1956, so 2006 marks the fiftieth year that I have been making portraits of my family in Florida. Photography today is so easy and cheap that it is ubiquitous. Huge quantities of pictures are created, looked at, then deleted. In the fifties, film was expensive and I can remember planning and taking almost every shot. I still have all the negatives." |
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The Passage of the Ruby Ring 5.5 x 8.25 x 5" closed; extends to 55"; 10 pages. Single-sided accordion book with verso in hand-marbled papers. Epson prints on heavy Hahnemühle cotton rag paper. Clothbound boards with paper title label on front board. Hand marbled slipcase with spine and edges in gold paper. Bea Nettles: "This book tells the story of the passage of a ruby and diamond ring through five generations of Nettles' matrilinear line. The women's talents and personalities, as well as certain keepsakes, are featured with a discussion of fertility as symbolized by the red ruby." Closing statement of Ruby Ring: "What can women give their daughters since it isn't customary to give them their family names? If we are remembered for long, it is through stories, our talents, treasured objects passed down, and sometimes by our first names." |
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| Another area of explorations has been in the themes of women's issues | |
Hair Loss 4 x 5.5" closed; 4 x 68" opened; 13 pages. Leather bound with slipcase. Accordion structure. Printed on acid free paper with inkjet printer. End sheets of abaca paper with embedded hair. The artist discovered in August 2002 that she had infiltrating ductal Hair Loss is a pictorial account of Bea Nettles' passage through |
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60 Old Trees 4.25 x 5.25"; 60 pages. Black-and-white photographs of trees from all over the United States. Clothbound with title label inset on front board. Printed on a laser printer. Created in celebration of Nettles' 60th birthday.
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| One of a kind pieces from Bea Nettles. | |
Flow 4 x 8"; 8 pages. Perfect bound with collage. Flow is a sea of blue, yellow, and beige.
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Island Map 4 x 8"; 8 pages. Perfect bound with leather spine. Collage and etching. Bea Nettles is probably best known for her photographic work. Few people may know she grew up in Florida. The influence of those early years — beach, sand, ocean, and light — shows up in some of her recent one-of-a-kind work. Island Map suggests green islands and sandy marshes.
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Page last update: 09.03.08
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