Megan Caldwell Chandler

It’s been a hell of a week here in my neck of the woods.  Because of some unforeseen events, I’ve been unable to work in the studio.  I did not, however, want to leave you without any new work, so this week’s post is going to be a throwback. 

Before I recently started working on paintings and drawings, I had spent the last eight years focusing my energies on creating handmade artists books, journals, and altered books. 

I created Medical Maladies in 2009, and it was exhibited at the Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, Colorado.  Medical Maladies is both an abecedary and a concertina.  An abecedary is a primer book containing the alphabet, and you can remember how to pronounce it by thinking “a, b, c, dairy.”  In music, a concertina is an accordion, but in bookmaking it refers to a tome with folded pages resembling an accordion.  Each page in this book presents a letter and a medical disease or disorder corresponding to that letter.  A= alien hand syndrome, B= Black Furry Tongue, etc.  Some of the disorders are real and some I made up (phantom mustache, anyone?). 

Next week I will definitely (hopefully) be back in my studio and working on new stuff.  Until then, be sure to steer clear of the Yersinia Pestis.