ORNITHOLOGY

Artist book by Veta Gorner / Bookbinder – Lisbeth Lund (29 x 41 x 6 cms in slipcase / Edition 5 + an artist copy, each image 12.5 x 12.5 cms)

For a man born for trouble as the bird to fly Job 5:7

The nature of this book can be aptly summarized by the words of JD Sallinger: “You are a great bird lover…You are someone who took up birds in the first place because they fired your imagination, they fascinated you because they seemed of all created beings the nearest to pure spirit – those little creatures with a normal temperature of 125º.

36 original zinc plate etchings that form the narrative of the book are a very personal project which began as the artist’s visual diary in an attempt to make sense and reconcile an inner life with the ever-changing world. Individual images were executed over several years like a spiritual record of one’s journey. The work took almost four years to complete. The title of the book alludes to a scientific tome with exceedingly clear and concise structure that adds to the notion of the work taken seriously. The suite of etchings is divided into three sub-volumes: “Margins – Planes – Ascents”, each containing 12 unique images analyzing themes of migration, change and acceptance.

As well as being a study and an intimate diary, the book is also a meditation. It reveals its contents at a rhythmical unhurried pace slowly drawing a viewer’s attention to its intricate and beautifully drawn images that pose inexplicit questions. All book pages are hand printed by the artist on heavy weight Somerset cotton paper as individual folds and painstakingly hand-sewn by the bookbinder one by one. Semi transparent parchment leather forms the fascinating cover of the folio with a printed image vaguely visible though the delicate skin-like material.