Description
. . . Has a Few Questions
About this piece:
Many women have discovered as they get older that they become invisible. While it may be a relief to be spared certain unwanted attentions, it is disconcerting to discover that they have completely disappeared from general notice. Consider Gertrude, Queen of Denmark in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, she is more a part of the scenery than an active player. For those unfamiliar with the play Hamlet, I offer this very brief and very incomplete synopsis. Before the play opens, Gertrude’s first husband, Hamlet’s father, the King, is dead. Gertrude is remarried to Claudius, the King’s brother. Within the play, Hamlet sees his father’s ghost, believes Claudius is responsible for the King’s death, murders another character having mistaken him for Claudius; and both berates and belittles his mother Gertrude. Claudius has his own series of deadly machinations throughout the play. By the end of Act 5, all the main players, except Horatio, Hamlet’s buddy, are dead by stabbing, drowning, or poison.
This set of five questions was printed on Sakamoto heavy paper using polymer plates and pressure printing. The prints are enclosed in a fabric covered folder with magnetic closures.
Materials:
paper, ink
About the artist:
Emily Martin has been exploring the relationship between format and content for many years in her own work. She often combines letterpress printed images and text with movable and/or sculptural book forms using a variety of traditional and experimental techniques. Emily Martin has held artist’s residencies at the Center for Book Arts, New York City (2002); Lawrence University (2012), the Penland School of Crafts (2014), The University of Florida, Gainesville (2015); and most recently was printer in residence at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, England (2018). She has taught many workshops across the United States, in England, and In Chile. Emily Martin received a silver medal from the Designer Bookbinders for her book The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet (2012), and her book The Tragedy of King Lear was a semi-finalist for the Minnesota Center for Book Arts Artists Book award (2020). Emily Martin’s work is in collections world-wide including The Library of Congress, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Library in the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the National Gallery in Washington, DC.
