Underlying traces / Darian Goldin Stahl.

Montreal, Canada : Concordia University Printmaking Studio, [2018]

1 pack (various pieces) : black and white illustrations ; in box 19 x 21 x 8 cm

Encaustic transfer on silk and embroidery hoops. Comprised of 5 5mm white China silk (single layer) that has been laser etched, raw beeswax, coated in Gamblin Cold Wax Medium and stretched over embroidery hoops with metal rings. These are contained within a hand crafted wooden box made of plywood with a metal clasp.

"This multi-sensory book seeks to reestablish agency over the medicalized body by poetically illustrating the traversal of illness: from an interior secret, to exterior knowledge, to internal impression, to external object. By corporealizing the lived experiences of disease into a readable and sharable object, an empathetic exchange can occur as the book is passed from hands to hands - a performative act that ultimately combats the isolating and marginalizing effects of illness. To create this book, I begin by laser etching the hospital gown pattern in varying degrees of severity onto swatches of silk. Next, I dip the silk pages into beeswax - a process that imbues the fabric with a translucent and eerie skin-like quality. I then burnish a print of the brain into the surface of the wax using an encaustic toner transfer technique that I developed. The transubstantiated material is then stretched within an embroidery hoop, which accomplishes the dual purpose of framing the page and recalling traditional women's work. The inner hoop has been stained red to reference the visceral body, while the outer hoop has been coated in raw beeswax to give it the appearance of flesh. The text is transferred into the margins of the outer hoop using the same encaustic transfer method. Finally, the pages are bound using a wire ring so that it may be presented flat, in a circle, or unbound."--From artist.