Maria Pisano ~ New Jersey
(Memory Press)

Resume: “Maria G. Pisano is a book artist, printmaker, curator and educator. Memory Press works are represented in The Library of Congress, 9-11 Memorial Museum, National Library of Medicine and many more. Currently her book Caudex Folium is in the exhibit Towers Rising, at the 9-11 Memorial Museum in NYC, and in 2022 her work was in “And Yet We Rise: A Retrospect of the Days and Times Surrounding 9/11″ at the American Consulate in London. She has curated a number exhibits including Book as Witness: The Artist’s Response at CBA in NYC and Crossroads: Book Artists’ Impassioned Responses to Immigration, Human Rights and Our Environment, at the Hunterdon Museum of Art, NJ. Ms. Pisano contributes to book arts publications and has presented lectures at the Library of Congress, College Book Arts Association and the Art Libraries Society of North America. Her article “Mark To Impress” was published in California Society of Printmakers and The Blue Notebook in the UK. She continuously gives workshops nationally and internationally, at her studio, libraries and institutions such as Bridwell Library, TX and Center for Book Arts in NYC.”

Artist Statement: “Visual and structural patterns found in architecture, within nature and one's culture, are recurring themes in my work. We build structures to protect that which is within, to hide, conceal and transform. “In working with artist's books, I orchestrate a theme, incorporating both the visual and structural elements. Each book contains its own individual form, creating patterns that speak of personal and communal identities, making a link between form and meaning, viewer and artist, past and present, memories and dreams, and the multiple polarities that fuse, enact and display multiple selves. Integral in all this is expressive language.”

By Maria Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2021. Open Edition.

Collection of three items In a phase box. Color illustrations. Container 25 x 15 x 17 cm. Signed and numbered by the artist. Colophon: “The cover of the journal is from an intaglio print referencing the virus. Poems, journal cover, text and photographs were created by the artist. The journal and text on the installations (Tents of Hope and Masks of Death) are digitally printed.”

At the onset of the lockdown in March 2020 Pisano began a journal, this piece uses those entries and her views of the status of the country during those initial months of the pandemic.

Maria Pisano: "This artist book takes on the journey we, in our country, are being raked through in this epidemic, reflecting the constant barrage of lies, irresponsibility, inefficiencies and ineptitude by our Washington leaders, causing many to suffer physically, mentally and to go hungry in the wealthiest nation in the world. Seen from my perspective as a daily journal and reflecting on what is presented to me via television, newspapers and the internet - the constant barrages of news that are mind altering and unnerving. The work compares the response from our government to the virus vs. first responders and essential workers, who are the real heroes in our lives: individuals who are selfless and reliable, performing their work with empathy and devotion and placing their lives on the line, like Roseann and Gabriella Tucci, Anni Park and Michelle Romeo, Cristina Steo, all nurses whose voices and concerns are added to this journal. They give us HOPE; their COURAGE, DEVOTION, HUMANITY, Honor, INTEGRITY and Truth are what is holding all of us up, to show the world that we can make it, because of selfless, committed workers. It is interjected with images of the natural progression and beauty of the seasons that for me are a blessing and provide constancy, giving me hope. My garden is a place of joy, fragility and renewal, a focus to counteract the daily indignities in the news, a place to regenerate”

"Collected in a phase box, the work has three parts. A 70 page Journal (March - June 2020) and poems by Maria G. Pisano in response to the Covid-19 pandemic that upended our lives alongside a 3D Installation, presenting two contrasting views: Tents of Hope vs. Masks of Death. In the work, symbolic tent structures with seven humanitarian qualities are used to carry the message of frontline and essential workers in the format of a protective circle / embrace. In contrast, the government's response is represented by the use of seven masques referencing Edgar Allan Poe's story 'The Masque of the Red Death' which are paired by the Seven Deadly Sins from Dante's 'The Divine Comedy’: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and greed. These are directly related to the deadly sins committed by the President and his henchmen."
$2,000

Infiorata
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2021. Open Edition.

15 cm closed with 13 cm pamphlet. Carousel book digitally printed and bound by the artist. Pamphlet (folded, unpaginated) with details of the event. Signed by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "The Infiorata is a spiritual, sharing, healing, devotional community based celebration and cultural event, all rolled into one. The next day, all is washed and cleaned away - nothing remains. This practice is very much like the Tibetan Buddhist mandalas and Native American sand paintings. It is a sharing and giving freely of one's gifts. The Infiorata for me symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue, appreciation and beauty of living life to its fullest, alongside the manifestation of its preciousness. 2020, the yar of COVID 19, when we were all separated from loved ones and friends, showed us that we as humans are not meant for isolation.

"This carousel book celebrates the vaccines, science, and the indomitable spirit of community. Created with photos taken by the artist in Bolsena and Spello, Italy. The book's second layer showcases the many hands - young to old - that make this event possible.”
$350

Colors of Memory
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2014. Edition of 10.

6.5 x 6.5 x 2" box containing four accordion books, each measuring 6 x 29" when extended. Relief printed on an etching press from a combination of collagraph and laser cut woodblock plates on Rives BFK. Includes addition of pochoir in "Estate". Cherry wood box with laser cut title and designs. Designed, printed and bound by the artist. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "'Colors of Memory' presents four environments that echo transformative experiences as both observer and participant. The books, 'Primavera, 'Estate', 'Autunno' and 'Inverno', with their accompanying poems, resonate with patterns that span one's lifetime alongside the natural patterns of the seasons. Each season is a marker, a passage, beginning with 'Primavera', a time of discovery and self-awareness and ending with 'Inverno', a time of fragility, loss and death."

"Primavera' is a haiku written by Michael Pisano. The other poems for "Estate", "Autunno" and "Inverno" written by Maria G. Pisano.
$2,000

Breathe
Poem by Imogen Brashear Oakley
Book Design by Maria Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2010. Edition of 20.

Housed in a paste paper wrapper. Intaglio and relief processes. Handset and jointly printed on a Vandercook with Alan Runfeldt. Designed, printed and bound by the artist. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "’Breathe’ is a response to ‘The Flower Soul’, a poem by Imogen Brashear Oakley, from the collection ‘Awake America and Other Verses’, Philadelphia, 1934. In the poem the ephemeral nature of one’s life, its fragility, its physical manifestations, are likened to flowers in nature, which with their scents, permeate our consciousness and re-awaken our connections. The work leads the viewer into a metaphorical journey, guided by organic references and the visual horizon that culminates in the gate/poem. The book references a threshold that we cross, traversing its tall walls, which like sentinels are guarding the passage from one entrance to the next.”
$2,225

Patterned to the Fabric
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2008. Edition of 25.

5”W x 6”H x .5” closed; 12 unnumbered pages. Accordion fold format with text printed in colors on one side of sheet (15 x 149 cm.). Front and back covers mounted on boards. Sekishu paper sewn in the support as signatures. Printed in cyanotype. Images intaglio printed on Rives BFK and Sekishu in shades of blue, red and white. Poems printed using cyanotype on Sekishu. Designed, printed and bound by artist. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "’Patterned to the Fabric’ depicts fragmented images accompanied by three poems written by the artist referencing memory."

a child no longer
the kaleidoscopic vision
forever shattered
only shards remain

myopia
what I am does not matter
what I represent is all

$700

Tunnel Vision
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2004. Edition of 25.

8 x 8 x 2" closed, opens to 8 x 8 x 80". Tunnel book structure. Printed on Rives BFK and kozo. Process include letterpress printing, collagraph intaglio, relief, lithography, chine collé, and digital printing. Text font Frutiger. Housed in a plexiglass clamshell box. Designed, written and bound by the artist. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Colophon: "Created as a result of a residency at the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College (EPI), Professor Curlee Holton, director. The book incorporates letterpress – for the poem and images in front and back covers, collagraphs – the interior and exterior walls of the accordion supports, intaglio, relief, chine collé, lithography, and digital printing –- the internal supports of the book. There are 8 inside supports, and each is cut to expose the depth of the tunnel. ... Printed at the Experimental Printmaking Institute at Lafayette College, at the University of the Arts, and at the artist's studio."

Maria Pisano: "’Tunnel Vision’ takes a novel look at the Holland Tunnel, which connects New York with New Jersey. When I began this project, and did some historical research, the story of the tunnel itself, its workers, and its chief engineer fascinated me. This book seemed an ideal venue to mesh the child's fantasy and the historical background. The book's structure is a tunnel book, 200 cm long when fully opened; the inside of the book depicts the imaginary vision of a colorful underwater world, where vintage and modern cars travel through its space accompanied by fish. The outside of the book represents the reality: close to 6 million tiles were used for the tunnel, so I used the tile pattern to create the outer walls of the book. It is here that I also include some of the more significant historical facts. The book is dedicated to my father, a manual laborer, whose contributions, like the workers of the tunnel, remained anonymous.”
$3,500

Animus and Canto
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2003. Edition of 10.

Size: 6 H x 17 W x 13.5 D open. Set of tunnel books each intaglio and relief printed on Rives BFK and Fabriano Uno. Each cased in an archival phase box. Designed, printed and bound by the artist . Signed and numbered by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "Science, art and philosophy intermingle in our quest to discern the origin of our world and our inner selves. This theme has served as a catalyst for a number of my works. In 2002 I created 'The Four Elements' – four miniature tunnel books, after which I wanted to continue to further explore this theme. 'Animus' was inspired by the creative spirit of fire after my visit to Mount Etna in Italy, while 'Canto' reflects the freedom inherent in being airborne and part of the world of flight."
$1,000

Snake
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 1998. Edition of 25.

2.75 W x 2.5”(75mm x 65mm) closed, extends to 28” long. Miniature tunnel book. Handmade paper with a watermark especially designed for this book. Using abaca fibers beaten very fine, and coloring the pulp to a light tint, the sheets were pulled, cut and then assembled to make the design. Enclosed in a printed wrapper. Letterpress printed. Consists of two yellow strips parallel attached at intervals and at both ends by green cards, Signed and numbered by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "’Snake’ uses a haiku, written by the artist, to express the momentary or lasting impressions one leaves behind in daily encounters and travels. Whenever we go or whomever we meet, we leave a mark, a tangible moment."

The artist designed the unique double concertina structure with central supports, to carry the motif and the movement of the book. A long, narrow tunnel book unfolding like a slithering snake.
$650

Amor
By Maria G. Pisano
Plainsboro, New Jersey: Memory Press, 2018. Unstated.

3 x 3.5" closed, extends to 7; 5 pages. Tunnel book. Digital print. In paper slipcase. Signed by the artist.

Maria Pisano: "Amor is a 5-page miniature tunnel book where love can be found at the end of the tunnel. Designed from photos taken by the artist of ceramic plates in Deruda, Italy.."

(SOLD)