Title | Two Lives |
Artist / Creator | Kimberly Maher |
Place of Publication | Iowa City, Iowa |
Publication Date | 2014 |
Contributors | Adapted from Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace |
Process / Technique | Letterpress printed from photopolymer plates using Bulmer type and hand-drawn illustrations developed from scratch film negatives |
Structure / Binding | Drum-leaf binding |
Medium / Materials | Hand-cut and sewn movable parts, pochoir accents for the illustrations, pop-up and movable features |
Paper Stock | 110 lb Zerkall Book Vellum paper |
Number of Pages | 22 pages |
Dimensions (WxHxD) | 8.75 x 6.75 x .75 inches closed. |
Edition Size | Edition of 30 |
Box / Wrapper | Four-flap magnetic portfolio enclosure |
Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
Two Lives was inspired by Daniel Wallace's novel, The Kings and Queens of Roam, an adventure about finding your place in the world and empathy. It is essential that the viewer takes an active role in the reading by pulling and pushing tabs, lifting flaps, and physically manipulating the characters, just as they manipulate one another in the story. All of the moving parts, the shadow play, and the shape shifting serve as visual metaphors for human social interactions. There is a pivotal moment in the story when one character breaks free. The escalation is depicted on the page through dramatic number placement and textural shift in value building to blackness. The numbers represent finding a way in the darkness, and the accumulation of mistreatment. To subtly introduce this concept earlier in the story line, numbers are inconspicuously placed throughout the book to peak interest and invite multiple readings.
Click here to see a video of this book in action.
Artist Bio
Kimberly Maher earned an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book where she studied letterpress printing, papermaking, and bookbinding. Prior to attending Iowa, she received a BA in Book Arts from St. Ambrose University. She is a printer and illustrator with a particular fondness for pop-up and movable book structures. Her work has been exhibited and collected throughout the U.S. and abroad. She currently is the Media, Social Practice & Design Lab Specialist at the University of Iowa and is a founding member of the Drift Plain Collective.