Description
About this piece:
In August 2022, my husband was admitted to the hospital for atrial flutter and congestive heart failure. His heart rate had been at 150 or more since early July. He thought he had long-Covid. This artist book follows the path of his heartbeat through those days before his hospitalization, the flurry of days activity at the hospital–including a cardiac electro-version, followed by the restabilization of his heart into sinus rhythm.
Sinus rhythm and atrial flutter are hand stitched along the 62 feet of this accordion book. Additional machine stitched thread lines reflect the energy going back and forth between us and within me. One foot/page spread for every year of his life. Each page spread represents one of the days of this journey.
While my husband never went into Code Blue, there were a few hours where we were fearful that he might.
When fully extended the book is 744 inches. That’s a lot of hand stitching!
Materials:
paper, thread, book cloth binders board,ink
About the artist:
Lives and works in Williamstown, Massachusetts
Melanie Mowinski, artist, author, and educator works with paper, letterpress, artist books, and ephemera, with an eye to place and the cultivation of care. She was recently honored with the Guild of Book Workers Mid-Career Award. She is a Professor of Art at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) in North Adams, MA and is the founder and director of PRESS: Letterpress as a Public Art. Her book, Collage Your Life, was published by Storey Publishing in 2022.
