Vitrea Fracta Codex

"Vitrea Fracta" is the name of this codex chapter, and the name of the collection of codices in this series. The term translates as "broken glass," but also "rubbish" or "trash." While I will let the codex serve as its own "artist statement," I can provide some context. My interest in broken glass photograms emerged, first, from the beauty of the form itself. But that beauty was accompanied by almost inescapable symbolic overtones. Those overtones are amplified when the fractures censor text and conceal meanings, awakening dormant memories of a bleak history. While words vanish between the cracks, an argument nonetheless emerges, through embodiment, through the force of contact.  

Note: These images are based on photograms of broken glass. The broken glass was exposed on a large format negative, for hand-made reproduction using alternative/historical chemistry and processes. The text in the codex was produced on  a manual typewriter. Each codex chapter has several, individually printed, 'variant' versions, using different contact printing processes (e.g. cyanotype, silver gelatin, gum bichromate). The version uploaded to this site is just one example of the codex chapter. Finally, all the glass used in making the photogram plates will be preserved and repurposed for a sculpture that will accompany this codex series.