Item #11420 Anti-Tourism Guide [Artist Book]. Maysa O’Connor.
Anti-Tourism Guide [Artist Book]
Anti-Tourism Guide [Artist Book]
Anti-Tourism Guide [Artist Book]

Item Details

Anti-Tourism Guide [Artist Book].

Durham, ME: Self-published, 2019. Unique. Original Wraps. Four related books of varying sizes. Young, emerging book artist's first work. Completed during a semester program at the Oxbow School in Napa, CA (a competative program accepting 20 students across the country per year), it shows remarkable sophistication in concept and execution. She made the paper pulpling tourism brochures, with pen and ink drawings. Expecting great things in the years to come...but one's first work is singular.
"I made this piece in response to my own experiences growing up in rural Maine versus the experiences of my peers who view Maine as a holiday destination. To me, there was a clear difference between the coastline tourist areas (such as Bar Harbor and the neighboring Acadia National Park) and the smaller town that I grew up in. Although both experiences occurred not far from each other, I compared the authenticity of my own feelings for my home and the commodified experience of residing in that same place for leisure. The representation of lighthouses and dramatic jagged ocean cliffs displayed on brochures and the walls of gift shops were always within view, but I had never put in so much thoughtful consideration until my being away that this was all my home was reduced to. I took up the art of papermaking, one of Maine’s most historically significant sources of industrial revenue. My illustrations portray imagery of things I directly experience in my town as well as stereotypical representations of New England life. I stitched these illustrations into books that are a play on tourist guides, with each element politely labelled as to make everything as clear as possible for the viewer. Although it stemmed from a place of discomfort, the artwork is not meant to directly attack or villainize tourists, and is rather meant to encourage the viewer to contemplate their relationship to the space that they occupy and visit." [artist statement]. Fine. Tight, bright, and unmarred. Handmade paper, stitched spine(s), onlayed elements (dried flower, paper sculpture, etc), pen and ink illustration throughout, leaves of untrimmed sheets. Various sizes (12mo-8vo). Large work 25pp, else np. Illus. (b/w illus). Item #11420

Price: $1,250.00

See all items by