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Posts Tagged ‘interpreter of maladies’

  1. Bookbinder of the Month: Monique Lallier

    May 4, 2014 by Erin Fletcher

    LaColouerduVent-MoniqueLallier

    La Couleur du Vent was bound in 2013 by Monique Lallier for the ARA-Canada exhibition that I may have mentioned just once or twice (even thrice) in the past. I brought up the window element in Monique’s work during the interview on the first of the month with her binding The Drawings of Caravaggio. When I saw Monique’s binding of Interpreter of Maladies at an exhibition in Chicago, I was awed and intrigued by its construction. With this binding Monique began experimenting with laser cutting technology to create detailed and intricate work. 

    IntrepreterOfMaladies1-MoniqueLallierI want to further the discussion from last week on the progression of the window element in your designs. Except this time I would like to focus on technique. The covers of La Colouer du Vent and Interpreter of Maladies were laser cut to achieve the intricacies of the design. Do you approach the structure differently on a fine binding when including laser cut elements?
    When I choose to use laser cutting I have to do a “case” binding as I have to finish the inside doublures before the laser cutting and the cover has to be flat on the table of the laser cutter. I still consider it a fine binding. 

    Did you have to alter anything about the process from your first attempt to the most recent one?
    I think I figured it out right on the first time and it worked well, so I repeated the same technique.

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    In addition, during the interview, I included a sneak peek of one of Monique’s recent bindings of Les Sonnets by Shakespeare. The complexity of the design is literally jaw-dropping. Two layers of board have been cut and sandwiched between the covering leather and leather doublures, which have also been laser cut.

    LesSonnets-MoniqueLallier LesSonnets2-MoniqueLallier LesSonnets3-MoniqueLallier


  2. Book Artist of the Month: Mary Uthuppuru

    January 13, 2014 by Erin Fletcher

    InterpreterOfMaladies5-MaryUthuppuru

    Mary Uthuppuru received ‘Best Binding’ for her work based on Interpreter of Maladies. This award was given at the opening reception for the second edition of One Book, Many Interpretations exhibition at the Chicago Public Library in 2011. A total of ten titles were chosen by the CPL, a handful of bindings were created for each title and the award for ‘Best Binding’ was awarded to one binding for each title. 

    Housed in a beautifully shaped slipcase are nine individual books. Each book is bound in the Bradel binding style with handmade paste cloth. Details explained below are hand stenciled. Titles are stamped in gold. 

    This piece is so complex; you divided Interpreter of Maladies into nine books, which can be arranged two different ways to create either a map of India or the United States. I’ve never read these short stories by Jhumpa Lahiri, what inspiration did you find within the text to execute the binding in this manner? 
    This was my first competition binding and it was a perfect book for me because I have an intimate look into the content of Lahiri’s subject matter. Interpreter of Maladies is a compilation of nine stories featuring Indian people both in India and the United States as they deal with cross cultural issues and in some cases, the westernization of India. While the stories are about a specific culture, Lahiri writes them in such a way that they speak to a more universal experience.

    My husband is the son of an Indian father and a Japanese mother who moved to the United States for college in the 1960s. They moved here at a time when communication and travel is nothing like it is today. Letters were written and silences between phone calls were very long if at all possible. My first memories of visiting them were the numerous maps throughout the house. After a while it became clear that when you move to a new country with your family on the other side of the world, especially at the time that they did, there is comfort in looking at a map and seeing the two places a little closer together. It is this element that helped me tie the content of Interpreter with what became familiar to me.

    Since the stories take place in India and the United States I wanted both maps to be a part of the design. However, I didn’t want to overload the books with too many design features. Having the maps only appear one at a time as simple line drawings inset in the cover was the perfect solution. Additionally, I wanted the ability to create an intense color similar to marigolds, a flower present in various aspects of Indian culture, so I created paste cloth for my cover material. This also allowed me to easily stencil guides for arranging the maps into both configurations without which would make it nearly impossible for the viewer to figure out their order.

    InterpreterOfMaladies-process2-MaryUthuppuru

    Stencils used to create guides to help in arranging maps.

    This shuffling of book covers and rearranging them to create the two countries helped reinforced the difficulty of the themes in the book: life is a challenge, and when you move to a new place or what once was familiar changes, you have to make adjustments…and it can be difficult.

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    Below are images of the map blueprints and how the covers can be arranged to create both the United States and India. 

    InterpreterOfMaladies-process4-MaryUthuppuruInterpreterOfMaladies2-MaryUthuppuruInterpreterOfMaladies6-MaryUthuppuru

     


  • My name is Erin Fletcher, owner and bookbinder of Herringbone Bindery in Boston. Flash of the Hand is a space where I share my process and inspirations.
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