Xexoxial Editions has published my book sassafracas, and I am elated.
sassfracas is a collection of my glass poems— yes, poems made of glass and photographed in the changing light of Mount Auburn Cemetery.
I began by making images of a series of one word poems (pwoermds), then etched them in dichroic glass using a high speed laser cutter. Over time, I reworked these into physical objects meant to be handled, turned about in the hands, held up to the light and experienced. They are very tactile and crave light and movement. The photographs in this collection replicate that act of seeing.
Because they are glass with the light of day shining through them, they are never the same experience twice. Because most of them are made with dichroic glass— a variety of glass which displays two or more different colors in certain lighting conditions— this variety is even more pronounced. Dichroic glass is wonderfully gaudy and transient, a passionate and lively material, filled with fugitive colors that change and engage playfully throughout the day, depending on the angle of view, the light, the weather, or even what is reflected, sky, face, or earth.
Lucinda Sherlock called them “delicate and delicious!” They are very yummy. You can buy the Xerolage here.