COURSE: A Book Art Installation About Time and Love
Jan Raye Allen transforms books, which have played a key role in her life and art practices. Several of the books included in the installation were recovered from the ashes of a lightning fire which consumed the artist's studio last year.
An encaustic-encased Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicine and a triptych containing the original manuscript of "Thru the Mill", written by her former husband, Bill Anderson, are among the works exhibited. her piece, Ashes, Ashes, which is on display at CMCA through March, tells the tale of the Tarot Tower fire and collapse of hopes and dreams which was a prelude to divorce.
This installation at drawing room, courses toward a distant shore, and reflects Allen's experience of the passage of time. Projected images of grey water and ultrasounds of a heartbeat, originally gelatin prints in a Coptic book, "Grey Waiting", create an environment for a hand-built kayak situated in the space. Pieces about time, love, waiting, and healing are also exhibited. Jan Allen exposes that which is deeply personal with a humorous touch. Course runs like a bluesy torch song filled with soulful reminiscence and sassy optimism.
