Liber sum, sum liber

de Carolyn Trant

This collection supports and promotes awareness to the important mission and framework of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition's focus on the lasting power of the written word and the arts in support of the free expression of ideas, the preservation of shared cultural spaces, and the importance of responding to attacks, both overt and subtle, on artists, writers, and academics working under oppressive regimes or in zones of conflict, despite the destruction of that literary/cultural content. "Originally a painter, I have been making artists books for 20 years: mostly woodcut books, but also collagraphs and drypoint. Editions range from 30-3, and I have made some single sculptural pieces, like BlueBeard's castle and Beauty and the beast, and one large installation, The falcon bride. Some books are codex or concertina format, some use cut-out or pop-up techniques or turn into carousels. Sometimes the box or slipcase is an artwork in itself. My work has been bought by individual and institutional collections across the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA, including the V & A National Art Library, British Library, Tate and the American Library of Congress. I show regularly at the Whitechapel London Art Book Fair and Oxford Fine Press Fair and others - you can check the news link or my blog to see where I am exhibiting next"--The artist's website (viewed July 27, 2015).