the process: Three books and a series of work made while on a trip to Egypt
February 2010


A book with pages torn from failed prints on heavy brown handmade bagasse was made to take on the trip. The cover was black laminated matt board bound with Daniel Kelm's wire binding. Collage materials found along the way, including rusted bottle caps from the pyramids parking lot, were incorporated into the book each day as I traveled. An old metal plate, found Cairo's Khan el-Khalili Bazaar, was gently sanded to accentuate the engraving and glued to the cover. A bag with the same coloration was found in a gift shop and the overly-bright metal ornaments were patinaed by rubbing black paint into the debossed areas.

Valley of the Kings
2010, 7.5” x 5.25” x 1.25, 84 pages



I also carried with me a small book made with paper which I had aged by crumpling and staining with tea, coffee and walnut ink. It was covered with a heavy paper, embossed with symbols resembling heiroglyphics, and was pamphlet stitched with three beads in the spine. Vintage photographs of Egypt were collaged into the book.

Early Explorations
6" x 5.5", 24 pages



After returning home, I had an opportunity to work with Karen Hanmer to make a pyramid shaped structure based on her design. It can be folded in an almost infinite number of ways with only 7 of the 36 pages shown here. It is housed in a leather slipcase embellished with two triangular pieces of metal.

Ancient Mysteries
6'' x 6'' x 1.5'' 36 pages


A series of images made from photographs combined with pages from the Egyptian Book of the Dead are in process. Originally planned to be transferred to papyrus, the surface has proven to be too rough and irregular to either transfer to or print on.

Along the Nile
13” x 20”

Other treasures gathered on the trip may be incorporated into future work.
 


Dorothy Simpson Krause • P.O. Box 421 • Marshfield Hills, MA, 02051 • 781 837 1682 • DotKrause@DotKrause.com