Heavy Threads by Transformer Press
"I was drawn to this poem because it reminded me of an untitled poem my mother had written in 1983:
I am surrounded by army ants
Who nibble at my time and disturb the mould of my life.
Each night I lie in the dark and plan paintings,
I write poems and draft stories.“Hazel Hall's poem starts out with a window, so using the star carousel structure made sense to me, as it is a series of windows:
When the dawn unfolds like a bolt of ribbon
Thrown through my window,
I know that hours of light
Are about to thrust themselves into me
Like omnivorous needles into listless cloth,
Threaded with the heavy colours of the sun.“I looked in my fabric stash for dawn-coloured fabrics and was excited to find the hand-painted fabric from my grad school days, used on the first window and the second background. This was partly because of the colours and the ribbon-like slashes (albeit teal, not a typical dawn colour) and also because the two pieces of fabric have seen an earlier life as Roman shades in my studio in North Bay. I didn't have an altar cloth, but I did have a set of finely-embroidered placemats and napkins. There were only seven. I did find something else I could use for three more, but then discovered that many of the other fabrics only provided enough for an edition of seven, so seven it is.
"As with the other books in this series, the text is screen-printed with screens made on a Thermofax machine, a piece of out-dated technology which I hope lasts until I have finished the series."
- Lise Melhorn-Boe
Processes, Dimensions, and Edition Information
By Lise Melhorn-Boe
Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Transformer Press, 2021. Edition of 7.8.5 x 10.75" closed. Textile book. Carousel structure with ribbon closure. Screen-printed on various hand-painted, upholstery and guilt-making fabrics, as well as embroidered table linens. Signed and numbered by the artist.