Transforming Hate: An Artist's Book

Creator

Clarissa Sligh

Description

"I am a black woman. I am an artist. For many years I have been creating work to bring issues of social justice into the public discourse. This book evolved from a project for which I folded origami cranes from pages of white supremacist books for the exhibition, Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate. It was organized by the Montana Human Rights Network and the Holter Art Museum in Helena, Montana and opened in 2008. In 'Transforming Hate: An Artist’s Book,' I was trying to look at what it was like for me to turn the hateful words of the white supremacist books into a beautiful art object. That exploration helped me understand more fully the many levels of oppression and violence at the intersections of race, gender, class and sexual orientation. Why do we keep each other from being who we really are? How can we begin to talk about what separates us? In our roles, as voyeur and as participant, we make daily decisions about who gets to have rights and who is marginalized in our society. I ask us to question our perceptions about history, reality, identity and voice. Do we have the courage to live differently?" - Clarissa Sligh

Publisher

Clarissa Sligh (self-published)

Subject

Racial politics, identity

Extent

8" x 8"

Style

Perfect bound softcover

Material

Illustrated paper, gold foil, ink

Technique

Four-color offset lithography. Illustrated paper wrappers with flaps. Housed in foldout die-cut box with gold foil origami crane inserted into cover slot.

Date

2016

Other Information

Signed by the artist, edition 323 of 1000. You can find more information on the artist and their work here: https://clarissasligh.com/themes/memory-history/transforming-hate-artists-book/

Recommended Citation

Sligh, Clarissa, "Transforming Hate: An Artist's Book" (2016). Rollins College Book Arts Collection. 42.
https://scholarship.rollins.edu/book_arts/42

Exhibit Location

This work was featured in the Cornell Fine Arts Museum as a part of the exhibition “Common Ground: Selected Works from The Rollins Book Arts Collection” from September 18, 2021 – December 31, 2021.