Description
Le poids des mots / Between hands is an artist book exploring the idea of what constitutes a book. It’s first four “pages” are paper casts of the artist’s torso. The fourth page incorporates a paper cast of the artist’s hands, and the fifth page is just a cast of the artist’s hands. The pages are set on a painted board with two pieces of cheese cloth attached to each side, which can be tied over the book to secure it.
Images and texts are printed on the “pages” using lithography. Certain imagery can be found repeated on several pages: a pair of folded hands taken from a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, and a photo of a plaster sculpture of a girl that the artist received as a gift when she was a child. We also see two family photos showing the artist’s cousin and grandmother. One set of 3-D moulded hands seem to be wrapped around the rib cage, the other is in a folded position.
The texts used in the work, in both French and English, are written by the artist.
Poem written by the artist in the book
Sage comme une image
le geste est répété
Mot après mot
Une main retient l’autre
Line after line of folded hands
Seemingly tied
an empty gesture
On a tip-toe balance
for hands attached
Funambule aux mains attachées
À défaire ce geste
Dénué de sens sans perdre
Sa balance
À droite à gauche, left and right
Hands swing to separate
A new meaning between the lines
Mais,
Sans habitude et sans attaches
Chaque mot pèse
Chaque mouvement
Pour trouver l’équilibre
A silent balance
En lieu sûr
Statement
The title Le poids des mots / Between hands was inspired by the writings of Virginia Woolf, thinking about words and the weight of words. The texts and imagery in the work reflect on how women have been silenced.
Le poids des mots / Between hands was the first work in which I was thinking about the materiality and the impact of words, a theme that continued to be present in many of my subsequent works.
Karen Trask, 2024