LA PROSE DU TRANSIBéRIEN | 2019

Re-Creation of La Prose du Transsibérien | 2019
by Kitty Maryatt, Two Hands Press 2018, 66/150
Letterpress printed poem by Blaise Cendrars and hand-painted pochoir imagery by Sonia Delaunay.

Handmade vintage watercolour paper, Japanese tissue, Liquitex Acrylic paint, Evacon-R glue, Wheat Starch paste.

368 x 102 x 67mm

Photography by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd
Private Collection

----------
Artist's Notes

My response began with thinking about the visual and structural qualities of the concertina text-block and how to go about creating a structure that would enable a particular reading experience; one that would actively present the poem’s narrative and Sonia Delauney’s accompanying pochoir images.

The sculptural structure also functions as a book cradle, so that wherever the reader has reached, the concertina is supported by the curved outer covers adopting varying angles in response to the weight ratio of the concertina on each cover. Colour appears only in the open void of the front and rear cover to echo the colours within the book and to highlight the open structure. Lastly, I would like to note a reference to and inspiration from David Byrne’s big suit in his Stop Making Sense performance and the exquisite work of Fashion designer Omer Asim.

The book is housed in a cloth-covered drop-back box with a blocked label to the spine.