This artist’s book aims to celebrate the profound bond between mothers and children.
It consists of five portraits, each made with a black ink print (Chabonnel black f66) on paper (Fabriano Rosaspina 285 gsm) and a dry print on aluminum. The final effect follows the stylistic and aesthetic canons typical of the representation of the Madonna Eleusa in Orthodox iconography.
This is a seemingly devotional representation: a truly religious mode of representation is used to depict an entirely secular subject: five mothers holding their children, rendered “holy” by self-denial, endurance, and courage. A sanctity of everyday life, as material, earthly, and human as it ever was.
To make the book, I started by first making the matrices for ink printing. Then I printed them.
These are the results. For the second icon, I created two matrices because I wasn’t satisfied with the first one.
Creating Madri took a long time, both in the design and construction phases. I especially had problems printing aluminum. I had to test different metal thicknesses to find the best one for dry printing.
Dry printing on different thicknesses yielded varying results. Once I found the right plate and printed it, I stabilized the folds with an elastic filler typically used for cosplay costumes.
Here is the final result with the printed sheets and the aluminum plates overlapped and glued together
Lastly I made the cover of the book. It’s a box made of old galvanized sheets bent with a hammer. I had to choose between several options to add the title. In the end, I opted for a stencil and black spray paint.
The plainness and simplicity of the exterior deliberately contrast with the richness of the interior: what appears to be a warehouse container reveals itself to be a precious treasure chest, worthy of holding a precious jewel.
