Carol Es: 1-SELF

A handmade artists' book and catalog rolled into one.

Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - cover of book on stack of others

1-SELF (Careless Press) 2005: This title suggests a dual meaning of both intimate self-expression and the artist's pattern-making background, since patterns were often marked "1-self" for manufacturing. 1-SELF was purchased by the Getty Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Brooklyn Museum, the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Collection at Florida Atlatic University, Otis College of Art & Design, UC Irvine and UCLA's Special Collections, and the LA Public Library Special Collections. It is also featured in UC Santa Barbara, the Bibliotheque Kandinsky at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as well as the V & A Museum in London.

The edition of only 50 copies includes a die-cut letterpressed cover, original watercolor, 14 archival (color) inkjet images, original block print insert, hand-cut collar pattern flysheet, and essays by Shana Nys Dambrot and Kristina Newhouse, with letterpressed quotes by the artist interspersed throughout. This book is hand-stitched, with a letterpressed Crane's embossed pinstripe cover, and comes in a tissue-type garment pattern lined box with a block print label. Actual book is 8.5 x 8 inches.

PRICE: $400.  Email to inquire. Limited copies remain.

Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - spine of book Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - cover of book with box open Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - fly page Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - original watercolor on title page Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - centerfold Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - print of painting and essay printed on pattern paper Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - linocut print in style card pocket Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - end pages (collar pattern) with handmade pink paper Artist's book - 1-SELF by mixed media artist, Ayin Es - array of watercolors - each book has an original

"Her affinity for hand-made objects is related to her cathartic use of materials specific to the garment business, in which her family worked and from which she fled...

"Her use of oak tag, straight pins, threads, textiles and so forth not only formally refers to elements of her story, but has her reliving certain literal aspects in a very direct manner, an experience Es finds painful but ultimately liberating. And in her attempt to get past events and move toward meanings we recognize an archetype of our modern world, the damaged soul who struggles to be whole, and who by the very act of contemplation transforms itself into something more."

- Shana Nys Dambrot, Writer and Visual Art Critic