When Susie Bock thought about all the advantages of adopting the Edith C. Rice Children’s Literature Collection, she could never have foreseen it’s current use.
Rebecca Goodale, an art teacher and bookmaker at USM has come up with the idea of having her students draw inspiration from the illustrated children’s books, some of which are ancient.
“Twice Upon a Time” is the exhibit that has arisen from Goodale’s classroom. Each of her students were required to choose two books from the collection, then they each made seven books of their own, all inspired from the children’s stories they had chosen. The class voted on the best two pieces from each artist and these were used in the display.
The exhibit opened with a social function on Friday, with Goodale and the students milling about and chatting with visitors. The students all seemed proud of their work and eager to talk about it.
The pieces are a broad spectrum of art, all created as a book of some style. The student crafted books range from star books (so named for their appearance when seen from above), accordion books (guess), pop-up books and actual books that have been modified somehow.
One of my favorite pieces is by Dominique Mattozzi and is titled “Sacred Tongue.” This ‘book’ is a collection of pages of text molded into the shape of underwear, which look surprisingly sturdy. The inside of the briefs are various depictions of Jesus. While I’m uncertain about the religious iconography, there seems to me to be a practical aspect of wearing your reading material into the bathroom.
Another piece I like was Scott Minzy’s “Chicken Girls.” The piece is three layers of paper with the figures cut from them. The book tells a visual story where two girls are surrounded by demons and they turn themselves into chicken girls to scare them away.
Minzy says that German paper cutting and Chinese folk art, as well as the brothers Grimm fairy tales from the collection inspired his works.
The artwork is displayed in glass bookcases along with some of the stories that inspired the artists. But don’t expect the art to be placed next to the books that served as its inspiration because that is not always the case.
One obvious exception is “Small is Found” by Rachel Nimon. It’s an accordion book that zooms out from an insect to reveal that it is resting on the chest of the imperturbable Pooh Bear while Piglet hovers nearby. On the last page we see a person pointing at Pooh. My instincts tell me this person is not Christopher Robin, or at the very least, not the Christopher Robin I know.
The Edith C. Rice Children’s Literature Collection was donated in 1998 by Susan Adams. It was started by her mother, who wished to see it kept as a whole wherever it went. The books are a collection of English and American children’s literature from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The exhibit will be on display from December 3 to January 14.