Silent Faces / Angkor

Silent Faces / Angkor began with sketches and photographs of a frieze of carved sandstone figures I happened upon when visiting the Angkor temple complex in Cambodia. I focused solely on the faces, no larger than the span of a hand. These images developed into a series of collages and the idea for a new project grew out of this studio work. Silent Faces / Angkor presents three distinct forms of the book, placed within a hand- crafted red cedar box. A metal tray with bronzed patina holds both a hand-painted chemise containing two accordion books and a bound codex with a goatskin spine. Beneath this tray, four scrolls rest in wooden niches upon red silk. The first accordion interprets the story of The Churning of the Sea of Milk—of the struggle between the forces of demon and god, darkness and light. The companion accordion depicts eight Apsara figures based upon on-site sketches I made at Angkor. A deeply debossed water motif runs beneath both text and drawings. 

Written vignettes, photographs and sketches from my visit to Angkor fill the accompanying bound codex book. Letterpress printing and binding by John Balkwill of The Lumino Press, Santa Barbara, was editioned by hand from polymer plates on a Vandercook UNI cylinder press. Typeset in Spectrum. I made watermarked handmade abaca and linen sheets for the scrolls. This paper frames four separate images from the frieze of apsara carvings. Each scroll is lined with silk, the print edged with gold paint. 

Edition of 20 copies  2013

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