Lea Nickless
Coconut Grove, FL

Alphabetica of Angst or How I Purged my Fears

$350

leanickless@bellsouth.net           

www.zhibit.org/leanickless

Artist Statement

My books are a process of exploration. In Alphabetica of Angst, I created an ABC book to catalog my personal anxieties. I designed each page to incorporate one letter of the alphabet as well as all any words that evoke, for me, feelings of fear, discomfort or anxiety. I used sections of a rusted tin roof for the covers, purposely leaving the edges sharp and uncomfortable. I continued the theme of rust and decay through a process in which I rusted the watercolor papers before printing them using an Epson stylus 2200 printer. I then crafted a quilted fabric enclosure for the book as a protection against the rough rusty cover and to serve as a contrast to the harshness of the structure. 

Artist Biography

Lea Nickless works with watercolors, mixed media and the structure of the book to explore her vision. Her work is found in the collections of Scripps College, the University of Central Florida and the Bienes Museum of the Modern Book. She is currently preparing for a one-person exhibition in Miami opening November 2008.

All images and text copyright the artist. All rights reserved.