17 July 2012

Art I like - Linda Ekstrom

California artist Linda Ekstrom seems to have used a lot of Bibles in her work - she has tangled them -

and balled them up -
and done other things, like coating in ink-
"In my work," she says, "word is central, as related to the body, and to space and memory ... My work is anchored in the book, the book as a cultural and a symbolic object, and as a container of history, narrative and memory. The Bible, as the primary book of Western culture and central to my tradition, is the book I alter and transform into sculptures. One understanding of these altered Bibles draws from the Jewish tradition’s long use of Midrash, the interpretive mode which breaks down the scripture into phrases, then words, then letters to uncover meaning." She concludes: "Cultural forms, like text and art, can bring the sacred into cognitive recognition where we encounter and hold mystery in relation to our bodies in time and space, where we can recollect and interpret that which we have experienced."

1 comment:

Kathleen Loomis said...

I acquired a bunch of old, beat-up Bibles a couple of years ago that I have not yet used in art. Got into a big ethical dilemma about whether it would be disrespectful to cut up a sacred book (even though I am no longer observant, I have a visceral awe of religious artifacts and don't want to commit Piss-Christ-type blasphemy). It's nice to see somebody doing what I fear to do, with what seems to be the right attitude.