Poem by Diane Dawber
Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Transformer Press, 2023. Edition of 6.
15" long 5" high 7" wide. Screen printed. Lucida Bright bold font. Automobile structure made of industrial wool felt and needle-felted wheels. Materials: cloth, wool, buttons, felt, textiles, plastic. Sewn cloth cover over automobile structure. Housed in gray box. Signed and numbered by the artist.
Lise Melhorn-Boe: "This felt book resembles a car, a 1970 Buick Electra, to be exact. The poem, by Kingston, Ontario area poet Diane Dawber, refers to an old Buick; she also refers to her aunt as an angel. I chose the Electra, because I thought it sounded like a good name for an angel. The hood of the car opens to reveal the text of the poem, screen-printed on fabric. The trunk opens to reveal the colophon. There are found textiles, acetate windows and embroidered details. The wheels are needle-felted."
"Aunt" by poet Diane Dawber was published in 1984. Dawber earned a Master of Education degree from Queen’s University. She has written children’s books and books on health as well as poetry.
She is an angel
with long legs
and shingled black hair, …
She sews halos into quilts,
crochets harps and flowers …
She can do anything
they say
with her hands….
And now she is writing
herself into family history
and we expect any day
to see her old grey Buick
scoot off into the sky …
$850