The Episcopal Church and Visual Arts

Exploring the Book

By Sandra Bowden

Trinity Book
Acrylic mixed media
1993, 9 x 6 x 1 1/4

Trinity Book contains three small gilded mini-paintings each symbolically representing a person of the Trinity: the circle is a symbol of God; the cross form references Jesus; and a triangle shape points downward picturing the Holy Spirit as a descending dove. These pieces have been textured using gesso and modeling paste and richly surfaced with layers of gold and copper leafing.

My work for the last 40 years has focused on the miracle of written language, especially for those of us who are people of the Word. During that time there were many series of work that explored my fascination and study of language. Through a pictorial system we call language we are able to communicate across time and place allowing us to enter the mind of another pilgrim on the journey of life.

A natural progression for one who was interested in the contribution language has made to humankind would be to eventually use the book itself as a format for expression. Several years ago I discovered some book-boxes and imagined transforming them into a painting surface.

The dimensional book-boxes that were the first in this series built upon the painting techniques of the earlier illuminations. Sometimes the book cover became the surface upon which to paint and inscribe imaginary text. In other cases small paintings with line-work, script or images were placed as contents in the book. Book of Nails (2004) contains a cluster of old floor nails from the same keg that was used to create the crown of thorns for the crucifixion pieces. It is evidence again how materials and ideas recycle, giving birth to new but related insights.

My most recent works use actual books that have been screwed open and finished to display a variety of surfaces which include the familiar raised Hebrew and Greek texts, Braille, or graphic elements carefully incised onto the luminescent painted books. The back of each artist book contains calligraphic writing etched into the gilded surface of the covers.

The fascination of the book as the vehicle for my art and a container for the Word has only grown over the years, and points my compass to the future.

Sandra Bowden email: sandrabowden@comcast.net web: www.sandrabowden.com		Click on any image for a larger view.


Book of Nails Mixed media acrylic 2003, 9 x 6 x 1 1/4		A mound of old rusted nails set in a book-box lined with precious gold, seems an unlikely combination, setting in place vivid contrasts; polished and tarnished, good and evil, eternal and that which decays. Another obvious connection would be that the piece references the container from which the soldiers pulled the spikes to nail Jesus to the cross. The cover has one large antique floor nail and four smaller ones that again allude to the crucifixion.

A collagraph print that contains the text of the Ten Commandments entirely covers the case of Book for the Law and Gospel. The collagraph was printed a deep sienna ink, then a layer of 22-carat gold was applied to its surface. The inside of the book-box has been painted in cadmium red and holds a folder. Inside the white paper casing rests two collagraph prints; one titled Law and the second titled Gospel. Like the cover, these prints were created by gilding collagraph prints.		Book for the Law and Gospel Mixed media artist book 2003, 13 x 9 1/2 x 2

Book of Remembrance Mixed media with gold leafing 1993, 11 1/2 x 9 x 2		Different purities of gold leaf have been applied to the mosaic pattern of the cover of Book of Remembrance, thus creating a pattern of lighter gold mingled with darker gilding. The central panel reverses the sequence of colors, bringing a stream of light into the darker top section. When opened, the book cover reveals no pages, but only the suggestion of a letter or note glued to the interior panels of the cover, with two squares of gold leaf placed askew over the letter. The text, written in a beautifully calligraphed but totally imaginary language, suggests a record of those special moments in our lives that have shaped us, moved us, changed us, those moments in our lives to which we attach special importance.

Icon Book, small in scale, contains two images of the Madonna and Child from the Eastern Orthodox traditions. An Icon of the Virgin of Vladimir, Russia's most beloved icon, is cradled inside the container. The cover that is encrusted with layers of gold leaf and roughly etched surface evidences the use of a timeworn and precious object of meditation. Icon Book carries with it a paradox; the book, now represents the Word, which has been very important to my work, The Word Incarnate, the Child. The vehicle of the book, as a vessel of revelation now holds Mary, the vessel of the Christ child's revelation to the world.		Icon Book Mixed media with gold leaf 1993, 4 1/2 x 3 x 3/4

Redemption Book Mixed media 2004, 9 3/4 x 9 x 3/4		In the 15th and 16th centuries it was not uncommon to have mediation books without words. This artist's book titled Redemption Book echoes the same intention as these early-illustrated sacred volumes. Inside the interior casing are six sheets of bark paper that form the pages of this artist's book, each with a painted square; black, red, white and gold and a title page. Colors tell the unfolding story of redemption, from the black of sin to the non-tarnishing gold square representing eternity or heaven. All the pages are wrapped in a folder of roughly textured black handmade paper and then inserted into an iridescent black casing – hidden from sight, but waiting to be found and interpreted.

With a play on words, a gilded page of ruled lines is presented as a page for the Golden Rule. A simple page with incised lines literally becomes a 'golden rule'.		Golden Rule Book Acrylic mixed media with gold leaf 1993, 6 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 1

Touch and See Acrylic mixed media 2004, 5 1/4 x 11 1/2 x 1 1/2		Seeing is not only with the eyes. Pages from a Braille Bible cover the surface of this antique bronze colored book.

The exterior of Advent Book is comprised of small painted and gold-leafed squares arranged in a grid. When the book is opened, a hinged inner panel swings open to create a miniature triptych. Appropriately named, Advent Book, is in effect, a book which opens to reveal light, the light that Jesus referred to when he said, "I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." Light comes, fills our world, then floods our inner spaces with reflections of that light.		Advent Book Acrylic mixed media 1992, 15 x 11 1/2 x 2 closed

"My artistic and spiritual journey has always been intertwined and the two have fed off of each other without any enormous struggle. It seems natural and I have been free to search and explore with the understanding that faith shapes my worldview and therefore should impact my artistic endeavors."

The Art of Sandra Bowden a 200 page book with over 150 full color images tracing "40 years of creativity covering issues important to every Christian in the visual arts" has just been released by Square Halo Books.

Icons & Logos: The Art of Sandra Bowden, a forty-year retrospective, will be at The Gallery at Barrington Center for the Arts, Gordon College, Wenham, Massachusetts, August 29th - October 15, 2005.

Three additional handmade books by Sandra Bowden – Resurrection Book, Even the Stones, and Neither Silver nor Gold – can be seen in the ECVA online exhibition Art and Faith: A Spiritual Journey.