| Title | Worlds Motherway |
| Artist / Creator | Bea Nettles |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Urbana, IL |
| Publication Date | 2019 |
| Process / Technique | Digital |
| Number of Images | 12 |
| Structure / Binding | Cloth covered accordion |
| Medium / Materials | Artists paper and bookcloth |
| Paper Stock | Tyvek |
| Number of Pages | 12 printed single sided |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 8.75 x 6.75 x .75 inches closed. Opens to 102 inches. |
| Edition Size | 10 |
| Box / Wrapper | Painted paper slipcase |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed & Numbered Edition |
Worlds Motherway by Bea Nettles
During my travels to cemeteries, I have photographed thousands of last names on gravestones that are parts of speech. With these words I have created books that investigate language, history, and some of life’s events. Gathering these names it became apparent how difficult it would be to tell women’s stories, as most of the occupations and many of the physical characteristics that feature as surnames reflect our patriarchal method of naming. In the English language, names with the suffix son or man abound. I have selected three surnames that are traditionally women’s first names: Eve, Judy, and Hester. Motherhood was the common link I found in each story plus a degree of guilt, blame or shame, which I have tried to address in this interpretation. Worlds Motherway came from Adam’s naming of Eve as the “mother of all the living.”
Artist Bio
The exhibition career of Bea Nettles began in 1970 when her work was shown in “Photography Into Sculpture,” at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC. Recognition as an experimental photographic artist followed and her work has been featured in over two hundred exhibitions throughout the world and appears in a major retrospective monograph Harvest of Memory: Bea Nettles. Her books appear in Handmade Books, 2010 and 500 Handmade Books, Lark Books, 2008; The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience, Lark Books, 2004; The Book of Alternative Processes, Delmar, 2001 and reviewed in Bonefolder, Fall 2008, Umbrella, Spring 2005 and Winter 1988, JAB12: The Journal of Artists Books, Spring 2018 and Fall 1999. Interviews appear in Ampersand, Fall 2005; on a podcast from University of Alabama, and a range of videos posted to YouTube. Numerous public collections and special collections libraries contain her work and she has received two National Endowment for the Arts Photography Fellowships and grants from the New York and Illinois State Arts Councils. Nettles has taught thousands of students since 1970. Her classic textbook Breaking the Rules: A Photo Media Cookbook reached two generations of readers. She has delivered lectures and workshops internationally and is widely recognized for her innovations in mixed media photography and photographic books.