Alisa Banks Studio News

Studio News

Winter 2022

Dear Readers,

I trust this update finds you well and wish you a Happy New Year! Spring has nearly sprung here in North Texas, near the Arkikosa, one of the names given to the nearby river before colonists renamed it Trinity, as evidenced by the emergence of sunny daffodils undeterred by a brief and hopefully single, icy freeze.

Inheritance

It is my pleasure to introduce my latest book, Inheritance, a project that has come to fruition after the initial idea was written down and stored away in a notebook several years ago. Virtual learning opportunities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic afforded access to obtain sufficient knowledge to complete this project.

Inheritance is a celebration and fusion of the tenacity of a culture to document history using non-literary methods. Inheritance speaks to hair day, a custom prevalent in many Black households in the US and throughout Africa and the diaspora, from ancient days to present, where the act of hair grooming is also an opportunity to share history, stories, and traditions.

Inheritance is in the form of a portable writing desk and contains a quilt, a brush, a bound book, and a jar containing a scented “pomade,” and a handmade cotton quilt.

This project is especially dear to me as it features Ancestor Ink, made from ingredients significant to my Louisiana roots: walnut and acorn, which grow abundantly in the area, and indigo, the first cash crop grown in the South. The soil used in Ancestor Ink was gathered from my ancestral home, a site that I have been seeking to interact with, and was granted access to in 2021. I am just delving into the histories of the place.

Inheritance is an edition of 8, plus 2 Artist Proofs. In addition to inkmaking, it features a variety of hand processes including crochet, brushmaking, papermaking, quilting, dyeing, embroidery, perfumery, painting, and bookbinding – whew! I have lots of folks to thank in helping me with this project:

For James, muse, ever faithful reader and giver of feedback.
To the ancestors who established and maintained our roots.
To Stephanie and Connie for your thoughts.
To cousins Tammy and Lejuan, and to Mike, my Louisiana Island connections.
To Saskia of the Institute for Art and Olfaction for scent development references.
And Tilke of Wild Pigment Project for inspiring me to work with dirt.

uncap…inhale…begin

Inheritance will be on view in Adaptation an exhibition at the Environmental Design Library at UC Berkeley from March 14-April 14, 2022. An opening event will take place April 9. If you are in town for the CODEX International Book Fair (April 10 – 13), the exhibition will be open during that time.

Speaking Engagements

Guests & Gusto

Join artists Sauda Mitchell, Carletta Carrington Wilson and me in a virtual panel for the Alumi Forum at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Tuesday, February 15 at 6pm EST. The event is open to the public, but registration is required. To register, click here.

Enid Mark Lecture Series

I am pleased to speak as the 2022 Enid Mark Lecturer at Smith College, Northampton, MA, Friday, April 6 at 3pm EST. Inheritance and other works featuring unconventional materials will be discussed. The talk will be both live and virtual, pandemic depending. Details will be posted in the News section of my website and on social media (Instagram, LinkdIn, Facebook).

Workshop Announcement

A visit to Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW) in Rosendale, NY has been on my wish list and I look forward to spending time in the Hudson Valley this summer to teach The Book Art Dummy, a week-long workshop in WSW’s Summer Art Institute from August 22 – 26. The workshop will focus on the development of original content to create a dummy for a book art project.

The dummy is a mock-up or model of a book and is created when a significant portion of the project has been resolved. The dummy functions as a general model for the final project and can be rough or refined. Participants will identify a project and create their book dummy during the workshop.

Learn more about the workshop and WSW here.

On View

Emergence will be on view in Boundless, an exhibition at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in Bainbridge Island, WA, from Mar 4 – Jun 22, 2022, which “explores the vast field of artist’s books, but also the thinking of book artists. Each work reveals the mapping and laying bare of uncomfortable, surprising, or unexplored terrain.” Learn more here.

Armoire was one of five images selected to create “a moasic of images to create a patchwork quilt-like window piece to bring together seemingly disparate voices and identities, signaling to visitors strength in community.” The installation will be on view at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art in Troubling: Artists’ books that enlighten and disrupt old ways of seeing, from Mar 4 – Jun 22, 2022. Learn more here.

Interviews

It was great to meet with audiences via panels and interviews in 2021. Many of the events were recorded and are available to the public, including:

Fiber Stories an interview with Craft Boston (1 hour)
3 Questions with the Art in Embassies Program of the US State Department. (7 minutes)
Cultural Substrates as Paper at the North American Handpapermakers Fluid Practices Conference (1 hour)
TextileTalk: Talking about Books - hosted by the Surface Design Association (1 hour)
Artist Books at TUSC, Tulane University Special Collections (1 hour)
Artist Books Unshelved: Collaboration at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (~20 minutes)
NJ Book Art Symposium: The Word Turned Sideways at Rutgers University (~20 minutes)

To access recordings, click here.

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Kind Regards ~alisa