| Title | Complete Arithmetic |
| Artist / Creator | Julie Shaw Lutts |
| Place of Publication | Salem, MA |
| Publication Date | 2010 |
| Medium / Materials | Mixed media, including found wooden box, encaustic, paper, and found objects. Also includes a glass box for storing the wooden pieces when not on display in the wooden box. |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 13 x 4.5 x 2.5 inches (closed) 13 x 12 x 6 (open) |
| Edition Size | Unique |
| Box / Wrapper | Vintage found box |
| Signed & Numbered | Yes |
Complete Arithmetic by Julie Shaw Lutts
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The title, Complete Arithmetic, comes from an old arithmetic book which is used in and also inspired the piece. The old paper pages fill the top of the box. The numbers and symbols are mounted on wood and lightly waxed. These pieces can be used to “play” with the book and set up mathematical problems of your own.
Julie Shaw Lutts Thoughts on ‘Boxes and Containers’ My artist books are often housed in vintage boxes or containers, which I have found at flea markets and tag sales. I love the idea of wondering “what’s inside” and the process of lifting the lid, or opening the box to explore the unknown. When working on a piece I often have the theme or narrative worked out and then choose the box or container in which to house the book. This choice often dictates the size of the ‘pages’, or how many parts, pages, or found objects will fit nicely inside. The box choice gives me parameters to work within and helps drive the finished work. Then the challenge is to make all the pieces of the book connect and feel right. I hunt for these boxes in flea markets everywhere I go. I walk the aisles scoping out the tables and blankets on the ground, until an object or box speaks to me, gives me a spark of an idea on which to build a piece. All the items hold a story of their past and I add to that story when I use an object in my work. These old boxes are getting harder to find all the time so when I see one, and can afford it, I add it to my collection and it patiently awaits it’s turn to be used.Artist Bio
Julie Shaw Lutts, a graduate of Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, is a collage, assemblage, and book artist who lives and works on the east coast. The artist scavenges flea markets, yard sales and gathers items on her travels to inspire her work. Old photographs, tintypes, handwritten letters, odd medical devices, vintage diaries, found objects, curious personal ephemera, and all kinds of mixed media are used to create her artist books, collages and constructions. Julie has a deep respect for the stories to be found in history, and uses the antique objects she finds as touchstones to imagine fresh narratives throughout her work. Combining these historical mementos with her own photographs and images creates the foundation of her work, into which she then blends influences from contemporary culture. Julie’s artist books, collages and assemblages are all one-of-a-kind works.. She has been called a “visual anthropologist”, as so much of her work explores layers of memory, identity, and personal histories through thoughtful visual narratives.