Bellingham, WA
Fever of Matter
$75
vassdae@cc.wwu.edu
www.wwu.edu/~vassdae/book_arts
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Since 1999 my work has focused on issues of war and specifically genocide as an examination of evil. “Inspired” by the decisions and actions of the current administration I decided to expand the examination of evil via the Catholic Seven Deadly Sins, and specifically the sin of pride and its extreme form, hubris. “Fever of Matter” is a preliminary study of our entry into the atomic age, its secrets and its lies, the realization of what came out of the physicists’ furnace and the consequences of hubris. My hometown of Fallon, Nevada, is now faced with the contamination of 23 of 25 wells with higher than acceptable levels of radioactive polonium. Children are being diagnosed with leukemia. Two underground tests were conducted not too far from the town in the 1950s. Are we now seeing the [secret] affects of the early years of testing? Then there was Chernobyl. What scientists thought they knew about the impact of radiation upon living organisms has changed. Issues to be explored in this series include the impact of the use or dumping of depleted uranium for weapons (Iraq), Agent Orange (Vietnam), Mercury (Japan) upon humans and the environment in which they are living.
Artist Biography
Elsi Vassdal Ellis teaches design production and book arts at Western Washington University. She established EVE Press in 1983 with her first offset edition; letterpress in 1990; and digital in 1996. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is housed in many public and private collections.
All images and text copyright the artist. All rights reserved.
