Because I like you

A$495 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

[Melbourne] : the artists, 2016. Artist’s book, consisting of title sheet, contents sheet, 10 cards each printed with an original woodblock and collage sourced from Edwardian postcards, all housed in a custom linen solander box with collage and woodblock inlays. Created in an edition of 10 copies, each unique with a different assortment of collages. Because I Like You is based on the concept of a love letter to ten mammals. Each of the edition is housed in a black fabric Solander box with inlaid windows featuring one of the ten mammals enclosed. Each page has one mammal lemonwood block print portraitand one mirrored original collage of the portrayed mammal. The mammals featured range from a Greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis) to a Sea otter (Enhydra lutris) by way of a Royal antelope (Neotragus pygmaeus) and a gruff Polar bear (Ursus maritimus). This artists book has been over a year in the making, based on a back and forth notion we have been toying with more and more (a collage in response to a print this time). The printed portrait shows nature, as intended (close to), and the collage shows the animal in different (and often less than ideal) surrounds. It is also our first book to feature woodblock prints. Because I Like You was released into the wild from our stall at the Melbourne Art Book Fair at the NGV, 2016. The Eurasian red squirrel edition is now in the collection of the University of Melbourne Library; the Sea otter edition is in the collection of the State Library o

• Binding: Hardcover

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