Waxing Prose

The third book in the series (shown here) has waxed pages. I've felt internal resistance to making these books at various points during the process, and this one was no exception. 

These books are an integral part of my healing process, as well as being a symbol of the synthesis of ideas occurring when two artists collaborate. Frog, in various aboriginal mythologies, teaches us to speak out. Pine (oh, where did I read this?) is a picture of robust health, far sight, and deep roots. Keeping these things in mind, I made the three books: confrontation and forgiveness, cleansing and renewal, and the healing of scars. 

The one I'm working on in the picture below is the book of confrontation and forgiveness. The text was difficult to develop: when I first started this project I wanted to be aggressive, name names, accuse, and decry the injustices done to me. As the project progressed, I felt more and more that I had moved past that. I'm still upset by what transpired, but I can now forgive. If that situation hadn't happened, all of this new strength and confidence and knowledge that came as a result of extricating myself just wouldn't be mine, now would it? 

Anyway, after a great deal of contemplation, I reworded all of the text. It outlines how one can be taken down by a manipulative person, but it shows how one may go about extricating oneself from those situations, and transcend the residual negativity to find strength again. 


Transferring the text on to the cloth and waxing it solidified these lessons I had learned: now there'll forever be a hard copy. In waxing the fabric, it looks like rawhide, the text, tattoos. Another allusion to how deeply ingrained these lessons now are in me. One thing I did not anticipate was the transparency of the waxed cloth. You can almost see the text through the other side. In many places it obfuscates what was written, and you have to read slowly and very, very carefully to make out the words. 


I suppose that's fitting.