Earth Series

A few years ago, I received a nearly complete but outdated set of the “LIFE World Library” books from a close friend. She, being a teacher, had used them as supplementary material in her cultural lessons, and I know and love many of the students who had previously flipped through the yellowed pages.

The “LIFE World Library” series was published in the 1960s and was composed of about thirty hardcover books, each painting a picture of a specific country or region, focusing on many angles of its economics and culture. All volumes have solid color backs in a variety of jewel tones, especially deep greens and blues, as well as rich red tones. A small simple line graphic of our globe, usually in white but sometimes in black, is printed in the center of the back cover of each book.

Based on these hardcover backs, I have created a series of works focusing on different aspects of how we view our planet, how we feel about it, and how we treat it. The series consists of 24 pieces, one for each hour of the day. The day begins with an end, and ends with a beginning. There really is no particular order to the pieces; each work begins and ends in itself.

To create the images for the “Earth” series, I have worked with collage techniques, mainly using paper elements from various sources. My goal was to keep the majority of the images simple and the original surfaces as visible as possible.

Sometimes I added sewing thread, inherited from my beloved grandmother, who had sewn and mended my dresses when I was a child. I like to incorporate sewing thread in my work for the many beautiful memories I have of her, and also because of its purpose and the theme it conveys: to create and to hold together.

I began working on this series in February 2020, and I finished the last piece in April 2022. The two years in between are marked by a number of devastating hardness tests that our global society has not been able to pass yet. The 24 images are my response to what has been happening on the world stage and the effects the affairs have had on my emotional state-of-mind. I have responded with outrage and anxiety, with numbness and depression – but also with hope and the strong desire to find the good in each new day.

Each “Earth” piece is affixed to a painted wood panel and mounted in a hand-built natural maple wood frame with a floating effect. The framed size is 16” x 13” x 2.5.” Fine art prints are available in various sizes, too.

To illustrate the context and background of my “Earth” series, I am offering an accompanying book about the collection which contains photos of the 24 pieces in their near-original sizes as well as my “Earth” statement, links to magazine articles, and a video about my work showing my creative process of the “Earth” piece “Appetizers.” 

Also available is a set of 24 mini prints in a repurposed vintage book box from cedar wood.