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Hand-painted photographs, artist's books, photograms, and photographic dolls
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Photographic Books About Cordelia Other links | ||||||||||||
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The making of a work |
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Cordelia Williams describes the progression of an image into three distinct works: “Mother-Daughter Self Portrait” (Photographic silver print, 8"x10") When my daughter was fifteen years old, we made a date for a mother-daughter self-portrait session. It was a hot summer afternoon but we were enthusiastic about our collaboration. We carried our favorite “throne chair” outside and put it in a thicket of bushes and vines. We set up the camera on a tripod. I have a 20 foot bulb shutter release. You have to squeeze the bulb to release the shutter, but it lets you pose for the picture. I usually squeeze the bulb with my foot. We shot several rolls of film, each of us coming up with ideas for poses. We worked for hours. This photograph of us in an adoring and reciprocal embrace was the essence of our relationship on that summer afternoon. “Only Part of a Lifetime Can We Be Together” (Toned and painted silver print, 8"x10") The image was deeply important to me – I painted it. I realized that my daughter was nearly grown and also that she was about the same age I was when my mother was killed in a car wreck. “Leaving the Nest” (Photo on Fabric Dolls, Papier Mâché Environment, 24"x30") It was two summers later when I made the mother-daughter doll. My daughter was leaving home. The process: I transfer the photo to the fabric in one of two ways. One way is to coat the fabric with liquid photographic emulsion and print the photograph directly onto the fabric. I made this piece the easier way by having a laser transfer print made from the painted piece. I ironed it on to silk, stitched, stuffed, and embellished it. I made the egg/nest papier mâché form. I decorated it with drawings and wild grapevines from the thicket where we had taken the photograph. I worked on it over the course of the summer. It took time for the papier mâché to dry, for the parts to come together. The medium itself requires a slow, thoughtful approach. While making these pieces I felt fully my mother's love for me in my love for my daughter. I felt this love as part of the great forces of the universe.
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