The Madness is the Method

Spirit Photographs

2012-01-17T18:05:00.004-05:00

(after Mumler)

Holding Hands

There is a book 'The Perfect Medium: Photography and theOccult' with a tremendous selection of spirit photographs. (Best one, Mary Todd in widows weeds with the ghost of her beloved Abe Lincoln). They are absurd but people believed them because there was the perception of photography as truth, and they had faith. So do I, in my own way, which is why I spent yesterday pushing all the furniture in the green room into the hall and made a theater. Today I set the stage.

Now you see it.

Curtain Call

The unconscious Line-Up

2012-01-14T12:39:00.002-05:00

The line up.
Today was to be cleaning day which is why I am sitting on the floor playing with pictures. I pieced together the last three I did, out of sequence, and I think they fit together like pieces of a puzzle. It was not intentional. I like to think I am conscious of what I am doing but I am not infrequently wrong on that point.

Eclipse

2012-01-13T18:51:00.002-05:00

(Staring at the sun with my heart in my throat.)

This page is from a different book.

As it turns out I am not infrequently wrong.
And I have no idea what comes next.

Apology

2012-01-12T19:53:00.003-05:00

I cannot recall if I ever mailed a copy of this letter.
It reads:

'Dear C-

There is no excuse for my not having written in so long. I wrote letter after letter and never mailed them,
disgusted with the fact that they were the same story over and over again.
My constantly predicted decline; each time I spiral down I find myself looking up.
Being the method of your own destruction is not only tiring but so very, very common.
I still work, I still hope. I miss you, and I find myself with a steady ---- (*letter torn) of ideas for which you would be the ideal model. The latest of which is --- (*) illustration of a common plea:
I do not want to die terrified,
I do not want to die weeping,
I do not want to die holding the heart of someone I love in my hands.
I see a woman prostrate before the opened pages of a newspaper upon which has been placed a cow heart.
I would use a human heart but aside from the legal ramifications they are just too small.
------- (*crossed out)
Love,
Z'

Palimpsest

2012-01-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

Trying to find the story inside.

I know it's in here.

Ring in the new...

2012-01-01T20:36:00.004-05:00

'When all else is lost, the future still remains.'
-Bovee

Year's End - 'Ghosted by numbers' 2011

The fourth year of Year's End series.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurensimonutti/sets/72157628672510059/

Addendum

2011-12-19T09:55:00.001-05:00

On why 'Drowning' is such an important book for me, it was the first project that I had ever conceived and completed from beginning to end. Before that I always thought in terms of the single masterpiece image, that line of thought works for some but it caused me to miss some important things until I made the 'Drowning Discovery'. With 'Drowning' I became a storyteller. And that's what I want to be when I grow up.

Drowning, not waving Artist Book

2011-11-27T19:20:00.000-05:00

This is where I started. This is where the path revealed itself. This one matters the most to me so I am making it available at a most reasonable rate. $26 includes shipping US, $31 international. When interested contact me directly at rabbitlange@gmail.com

A visual narrative artist book
Description
Fewer than 30% of suicides leave a note. More probably make the effort but find the results inadequate, the futile attempt at describing logically a desperate and illogical act.
Contained in this volume are 31 case studies-
1. brief case history 2. snapshot 3. photographic documentation of items from pickets, found clutched int he hands, or arranged to be the last thing the deceased would see in the world.
Of individuals who, feeling their lives had failed, ended them;
and finding that words had failed, abandoned them.
In the hopes that these objects will speak to us in lieu of the notes that were not left.
76 pages, 4/4 full colour offset press, handmade cover, comb binding.

And here are a few examples as to how this tale is told.

Everything is apparent here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drowning-not-waving-artist-book/180694568690942

On the Season I became The Good Witch

2011-11-27T16:09:00.001-05:00

In a public city psych ward, no matter which one, no matter the time of year there are certain constants.
There is always a howler, always male, past the point of verbalization and can only wail. This time it was a 7 foot Korean man with the lung capacity of an operatic tenor. He was put in the quiet room and does not play a part in this story.
At least two schizes, either benevolent or malevolent schizophrenia is past the point, they are destroyed. At least one suicide attempt, usually two, late teens early twenties, could be male or female. A handful of deps, depressives watch and tend to keep silent. A few uncategorized. I do not recall the year or the season but it was cold so they were scooped up off the streets to keep from freezing. And the bipol. That would be me. I was frequently the only one. I do not know why. And as irony would have it I was generally the healthiest one on the floor after I was stabilized in the ER.
As I said I do not know the year or actual time of year. Just that it was cold so the season shall be dubbed as Winter.
This was the season I became the good witch.
One of the anomalous this time around was named Cathy. I do not know how I knew that. She seldom spoke. She was in a wheelchair, her leg straight out in an elaborate cast and she wore a bicycle helmet. All day every day she worked on a pull rug she kept in her lap. I never did make out the picture.
Psych is also a matter of routine – wake up, group meeting, breakfast, individual groups, lunch, arts and craft (plastic beads on rubber band bracelets), quiet time, dinner, evening group meeting, relaxation. TV or games. The problem with games is findng one intact. The obsessive compulsives from the stay before got to the books and tore out every third page, There must have been a pica as well who got to the Scrabble pieces. We were able to mix two games together to make enough tiles but you have no idea what pieces survived and what didn’t which adds an extra layer to the game.
Helpful hint: When playing a Pica ravaged tile set of Scrabble with a delusional- do not challenge. No matter what is posited as a word, accept it.
But I have strayed from the story at hand.
The following day, after group and before lunch, there was a tug on my gown. It was Cathy. I knelt down to face her. Her eyes seemed the size of saucers. They could not possible have been as large as I remember them but I believe they were that blue. She looked at me and said she was sorry she called me a witch. I told her she never called me a witch and she said she had, the previous day at group, she had and she was sorry.
A tear the size and shape of a turnip fell out of one impossible eye and slid down her cheek. ‘You’re not a witch’, she said. ‘Or if you are a witch you’re a good witch.’ She concentrated a moment and looked back at me. ‘You’re a Glinda’, she said. ‘That’s it, you’re a Glinda’. The nurse grabbed her wheelchair and started backing her away down the hall and she stared at me and said again, ‘You’re a Glinda’.
‘You’re a Glinda’,
‘You’re a Glinda’,
‘You’re a Glinda’,
A tear of my own fell for Cathy, though not nearly as large and not through impossible eyes.
We were packed off to bed and in the morning Cathy was gone. More than a single tear fell from my eyes that morning. They had taken her at night,you see.
If you are discharged from psych they always do it in the morning. If they take you away, which is something else entirely, they always do it at night.
She was never seen on the floor again.
They released me within a few days after and as always when I walked home from the hospital I was amazed that the world had continued to turn.
But this time was different from all the others, before and since. This time I left as The Good Witch, dubbed as such by Cathy, who like many of the deeply damaged I have come across seems to know things no one else does, and her impossible eyes.

The birthdays (2006-2011...and counting)

2011-10-08T10:22:00.003-04:00

2011: Sixth year birthday - Me, myself & eye. I blew out the match. These candles were never lit.

2010: Tomorrow is my birthday and I have tired of this room.

2009: Bring the candle to the flame.

2008: Birthday girl. (Eaten by the walls).

2007: Tomorrow is my birthday and things are much the same.

These are where it began. The only time there were two. When I lost the last people in my life I threw myself a party.

Tomorrow is my birthday and all my friends are here.

'And my, how we laughed'.

Cornered

2011-10-04T13:24:00.000-04:00

Back to the 8x10. Deardorff.

The most wonderful time of the year

2011-09-17T08:47:00.002-04:00

A gothic abecedarian narrative for 2012.
My annual calendar girls are ready to be set loose.
The first time I never had to worry over sequence.

Complete preview available here:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/lsimonutti
Just click on the cover to see inside.
:)

Help me!

2011-09-13T15:41:00.003-04:00

Really now. I have a new idea but cannot start new book until old book is completed.
8 copies left. Just 8. Call your friends, enemies, grab random strangers on the street.
Help me set these free!

This one matters to me.

A day at the Zoo

2011-08-26T09:16:00.003-04:00

Zoo in rain. Animals, despite being what I consider waterproof, do not frolic in the rain. They go inside just like people. Except me. Get to zoo. Buy souvenir umbrella. Do not buy map because maps should be free. In first 40 minutes discover locale of parking lots A + B. Return to store. Buy souvenir map.

In 3 1/2 hrs. I saw 2 zebra butts (they would not turn around despite my calls of 'Hey Zebra!' - I know they heard me). 2 wild horses (which look just like regular horses) and the chipmunk and squirrel habitat which would have irked me were it not for the arrow shaped sign pointing to it which said 'This way to the nut hunters.'

*It is possible I saw an elephant. It was about 100 yards away in a raging downpour and I have poor eyesight but it certainly resembled an elephant, either that or a very large rock.

No pandas in the large panda habitat. 1 panda inside white cubicle facing the wall. No face, no paws, just panda butt. After several minutes I could not discern the panda breathing-due either to the thickness of its' coat or perhaps it was dead. I walk past Panda Mart, Panda Market, Panda Store to arrive at Panda Plaza where I check out the menu of Panda Grill to see if there is Panda on the menu. No

Then I lose my wallet with my driver's license, bank card and I pod touch on the train ride home. I knew there was a reason why I seldom go out.

Dark, Darker, Darkest

2011-08-20T18:34:00.003-04:00

The books are winding down. Only a handful left. Do not let 'Silence' languish. These need a home.
Go here. Do it now. http://lauren-rabbit.blogspot.com/2011/04/silence-is-secret-to-sanity-19-images.html

And for the most current of events:

Idle Hands

Our hapless heroine has no idea what she is going to do.

The Operating Theater

No good can come of this.

Books! Heat, books, heat...

2011-07-27T14:21:00.004-04:00

It is too hot to shoot.
I've been folding paper and hiding from the sun for over a week.

Pretty, pretty.
http://lauren-rabbit.deviantart.com/journal/42574007/

It is over 90 in my house.
I just cannot seem to see anything at that temperature.
And from time to time I walk into the basement, which is cool, and stare at my darkroom sink, and sigh.
I cannot wait for Fall.

Time Counts

2011-07-10T13:40:00.003-04:00

Mortality has been uncomfortably on my mind lately.

The Devil's Alphabet

2011-07-07T20:13:00.001-04:00

Terribly ill for over 3 1/2 weeks, I could barely move so I resurrected the Devil for barter.
The full alphabet is displayed by my gallery here: www.edelmangallery.com/simonutti/devils_alphabet/simonutt...
Book details here: www.blurb.com/user/store/laurenrabbit

Halfway home...

2011-06-05T15:51:00.001-04:00

The next available edition of 'No such thing as silence' is #26, meaning my plans for handbound world domination are halfway to completion. Give a book a home!
Details below.

Parts is parts

2011-05-10T13:24:00.001-04:00

The discipline of bookbinding is an ideal counterpoint to the restrained chaos of my shooting and printing. I find that working on both concurrently is the closest I have ever come to finding balance.
Details below.

Silence is the secret to Sanity: 19 images, 43 books, 3 voices

2011-04-18T07:21:00.009-04:00

Such a quandary.

Introducing my first thoroughly autobiographical handmade book.

'Drowning, not waving' was an examination.
'The Devil's Alphabet' was an illustration.
'Evidence' was a fabrication.
'The black book' was an exhibition.
'No such thing as silence' is a confession.

As of October 2011 I will have been walking this planet for 43 years
and being of a sentimental nature this book will be
a limited edition of 43 copies.

It seemed appropriate to devise and unconventional binding.
Banded the book opens vertically in a conventional manner.
Remove the band and you can open the book in a manner I call Sidewinder.
There is no wrong order. In this matter there is no order at all.

The pages pivot on a solid brass binding post.
Metallic copper cover with handcolored collage
on fine Rives BFK printmaker's paper.
The introduction sets the scene and is printed on canvas.

The contents: 19 images, luster surface reproductions.
As you spin the sequence you can manipulate the story.

The Images:

To see them larger you can visit them as a set in sequence here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurensimonutti/sets/72157626350461007/

To live up to its' title this book comes with bells on.
They have been around for a long, long time.
The ribbons hang down.

As a child I pressed flowers in between the pages of my books.
The prints are mounted on Indian Petal Paper.
Acid free rag paper infused with dried flowers.

As to the paper on which the prints sit there are three different versions.
One book has pages infused with blue cornflower-blue is for memory.
The second: infused with Mughal Rose petals-red is for passion.
The third: infused with yellow star flowers-yellow for hope + promise.

You do not get to choose your color.
I have already assigned colors to numbers of the edition at random.
What you get will be left up to chance.

There is a fragile signature on the front cover, which may or may not
fade away over time; and a graphite signature on the endpage
which will not.

I like all my books but this one is precious to me.
It is $99 + shipping.
As always, I keep them as inexpensive as I can.

Book + Shipping in the Continental US - $111
(Priority Mail w/delivery confirmation)
Book + Shipping International: $119.00 First Class

Paypal is my payment option of choice.
I have a business verified account.
But in the Continental US I will accept a check or money order.

I took a leap of faith on this one and bought supplies in advance.
Ordered books will ship within 10 days.

If interested drop me a line at my personal email:
rabbitlange@hotmail.com

≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈∞≈Ω≈

Working Process

2011-04-15T22:24:00.001-04:00

Working Process: I seldom sketch. As I am usually home if I get an idea I go upstairs and shoot it. On rare occasion when I am not near my gear I will do a quick sketch of an idea that occurs. Thing is, I can't draw.
Case in point-

The eye is the center

2011-04-10T19:38:00.000-04:00

Magnify me.

AIPAD Show in NYC

2011-03-17T08:46:00.003-04:00

AIPAD-The Association of International Photography Art Dealers Show at the Armory in NYC.

http://www.aipad.com/photoshow/new-york/

March 17 - 20, 2011
Park Avenue Armory at 67th Street
My gallery has a booth #309-Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago. I'll be stopping by on Saturday certainly and possibly again on Sunday so come see. Some of my newest work will be there and in addition there will be a great deal of work worth a look.

Insomnia

2011-03-10T08:09:00.000-05:00

Tinder

2011-03-04T15:24:00.001-05:00

One possible solution to the problem rejected.

Trip, Trap, Rat, Snap

2011-02-09T13:58:00.001-05:00

Confinement

The Rat Trap

Waiting for the snap.

Playing with the big boys

2011-01-10T15:43:00.001-05:00

Me with the Deardorff as photographed by the Bender.

Mobile

2011-01-07T16:46:00.000-05:00

Time keeps on slipping...

2011-01-02T16:24:00.001-05:00

Year's End 2010 - 'the first page/recapitulation'

The wall debuted in 2008, was recalculated in 2009 and in 2010 I do not know if this is memory of the beginning (the first page) or recapitulation at the end. In any case I am hopeful this is the last time the services of the wall of pages will be required.

Year's End 2009 - 'recalculate'

A full year passed and all I did was turn around.
I had to redo the math:
4 birthdays 3 2/3 years 44 months 1377 days 33,048 hours 1,982,880 minutes 118,972,800 seconds
I am near ready to stop counting.

Year's End 2008 - 'Inside'

This would be the math-
3 birthdays 2.946629213 years 31 months 1049 days (taking into account the leap year)
1,510,560 minutes 90, 633,600 seconds.
I would break it down further but it might make me appear obsessive.

Ring in the New

2011-01-01T15:33:00.000-05:00

'When all else is lost, the future still remains.' - Bovee

'Ghosted by time' Year's End 2011

A little darkness to ring out the old...

2010-12-08T18:27:00.001-05:00

My (occasionally) Annual Handmade Book

the black book - time to close out this year and bring in the new with a little darkness.

This book is a fragile creature, there's not a hard edge on it. It bends but will not break.

20 images (all but one taken this year),
approx. 5x4 inches, professionally printed on digital paper with a gloss sheen and selectively treated with a matte varnish (by me where I felt a little matte varnish should be.)

The images are fairly dark so the prints are fairly bright.

Prints are mounted on hand reinforced sheets of Thai decorated paper- very delicate-it is likely to bend or wrinkle but infused with reeds and leaves it will not tear. Stronger than it looks.
End sheets of a fine marbled paper
(each will differ somewhat)
Covers, with mounted images, made of a fine handmade paper dappled with silver.

A Japanese Stab binding sew with Irish linen,
the spine then covered with satin ribbon.

7 inches high x 7 1/2 inches wide

The Black Book is limited to strictly 13 copies. It is a delicate book, time consuming, and thus a very short run this year. $56 Including US shipping, $69 including International shipping.

Full set of images in the book, in full sequence, viewable here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurensimonutti/sets/72157625408970494/

Kiss The Past Goodbye

2010-11-20T11:54:00.012-05:00

Collages from years past. Shadowboxed & ready to hang for your convenience.

These are shadowboxed, works I did at the change of the millenium 2000-2001.
These are the pieces that led me astray from a formal straight printer and toner to an aspiring chemical alchemist. They are collaged with many never before seen (private) gelatin silver prints, treats and trinkets, hospital arm bands, rough sandpaper, mummified birds and butterflies, reeds and mermaids.

The prints referred to as "personal vintage" pre-date 1990, when I was just beginning.
They are contained- shadowboxed, entirely autobiographical, black eyes and regretted relationships, my second tattoo;
and it is time to let them go.
I try never to dwell on past work, the only picture I wish to think about is the next one but I cannot allow these to languish in the cedar closet in the basement.

So consider giving them a home. This is a garage sale.

Any of these 8 boxes are just $77 including shipping in the Continental US. Signed and dated.

For International shipping (first class) the box is $103

There is only one of each.

If you are interested drop me a line here or at: rabbitlange@hotmail.com
If not interested, look at them anyway, they are who I once was.
SOLD.

I was not yet 20 and I was very good at hiding.

The colours I used were remarkably accurate.

I was never without a sense of irony.

Sorrow exposes.

Winged but still grounded.

rough and smooth

leap

I really do have no idea.

And in a different category-these I was going to hold onto but I am determined to let it all go.

Mermaids is a framed, collaged piece, covered with a heavy leaded glass that was textured to look like water. It is quite a heavy piece. And it is very unlike me. Seldom do I shoot a stranger. This piece is available (I think) for $165 including US shipping, $199 international.

Eye to eye

A large unglassed piece. Neither of the eyes is mine.

The gelatin silver print of the eye is one of the last I ever made on Azo before it was no longer obtainable. SOLD .

bound by sight

I do not know if these will be of interest to anyone. But I thought they deserved a chance.

Watching the words grow

2010-11-14T19:53:00.002-05:00

They were of reasonable size, but it remained to be seen if they survived a very long drought.

Windows without a view

2010-11-10T23:56:00.000-05:00

Sadly the glass was not transparent, but at least the sun still shone through.

Time Counts - My annual tradition

2010-11-07T17:15:00.001-05:00

'Tis the season for my annual calendar. An oversized 13.5 x 19 inch calendar on premium paper with 12 large format images, most never before shown.

You can see a complete preview here

www.lulu.com/spotlight/lsimonutti

(click on 'Time Counts' to get to preview).

Go look. Do it now.

Begin Again: The Need for the Whip

2010-11-07T17:02:00.004-05:00

I made the terrible mistake of cleaning up my shooting room. Things were going well. I could afford to eat what I wanted and buy film without struggling. And I couldn't take a shot. I had crippled my eyes. Then I remembered a conversation I had eavesdropped on by two quite brilliant professors over 20 years ago. The phrase I came away with was 'The need for the whip'. Some people find no comfort in order. 'The need for the whip' is the need for a touch of chaos in order to produce work.
So I have my working title. And once I have my title I can see again. For me, it always starts with words.

Part I
The Family Portrait

Family is relative.

Part II
Pincushion
Spent 5 days at the Casa de Union Memorial Hospital. I feel like a pincushion-12 blood draws in 5 days. I am accustomed to the arms and hands but this time they tacked on 4 to the stomach. That was new. I must say I didn't much care for it. Although I did give the doctor my card so he and the staff could look at my work and I feel it was well received.

The birthdays series - year 5

2010-09-30T17:53:00.001-04:00

No such thing as silence

Tomorrow is my birthday and I have tired of this room.

Hair of the dog

2010-09-11T09:26:00.001-04:00

Making friends

2010-09-07T21:08:00.001-04:00

Mama said it would be healthy if I made some new friends.

New works

2010-09-07T18:22:00.002-04:00

The empty bed

This image is featured on Eyemazing Editions www.eyemazingeditions.com

Confounded by time (anger is golden)

Barely there (drowning inside)

Exclusively Available

2010-09-07T16:02:00.001-04:00

Insomnia, rope and spirits

2010-09-02T16:35:00.002-04:00

Insomnia results in Contemplating Daybreak

Given enough rope I will always tie myself up in knots

Spirit photography and the claw hand

Portraits from Oz

2010-09-02T16:30:00.002-04:00

Melanie and her mum I

Melanie and her mum II

The Waiting Room

2010-07-31T15:34:00.002-04:00

The Whitney Museum of American Art and just now the Metropolitan Museum of Art, both in NYC, have acquired some of my work for their permanent collection. It is nice to know the prints will be cared for and have the chance to last.

Neat.

Time to begin again

2010-07-04T21:43:00.003-04:00

eyes taped shut

kanga and me
(The closest I could come to having a pet kangaroo. I have named him Limpy since, taking into account his current condition,
he could not have been particularly fleet of foot.)

puppetmaster has lost her strings

balancing act

A brief opportunity to see original prints

2010-03-18T09:44:00.001-04:00

In or near NYC? Even in the appropriate state, country, or hemisphere?
See my original prints at the AIPAD show. The Association of International Photography Art Dealers Show is at the Park Avenue Armory, NYC.
One of the most important international photography events, The AIPAD Photography Show New York, will be presented by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) from March 18 through 21, 2010.
A nice selection of my works are at Catherine Edelman Gallery's booth #210 (along with other beautiful works by CEG artists). It's a hell of a show.
www.aipad.com

Exhibition open

2010-01-18T14:59:00.003-05:00

Details and images of the opening and artist talk here:

http://cyclopsblog.com/

Check out the first First Thursday of the Year on February 4th.
Galleries Open Until 7pm.
River North/West Loop
Additional info available at the Art Dealers Association of Chicago.
www.chicagoartdealers.org

8 rooms, 7 mirrors, 6 clocks, 2 minds & 199 panes of glass

2010-01-02T19:13:00.002-05:00

Opening January 8th.

I am giving a gallery talk January 9th at noon.

I have many stories. They photograph well, I believe.

Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago

http://www.edelmangallery.com/home.htm

Year's End

2009-12-31T20:08:00.007-05:00

This is the first year's end picture I have done that referenced the year prior.

(year's end 2008-09)

A full year passed and all I did was turn around.

Shot 365 days apart and it looks

like even the light held still.

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-20T11:11:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Hopeful New Year!

A case of mistaken candy cane identity

2009-12-14T20:15:00.004-05:00

This shall rank as one of the most inane things I have ever done and challenge the concept of 'limited warranty'. In celebration of the holidays I purchased two boxes of candy canes a week ago (on sale) and have been happily partaking of them on a daily basis. I was enjoying a candy cane while reading in bed last night. In the middle of the night I woke up with the desire to consume the rest of the candy cane on the night stand. I tried to snap it with my teeth but could not get the wrapper off. I gnawed on it for quite a bit and the wrapper still would not give. Then I woke up. I had been dreaming of candy canes which is sweet, somewhat akin to the 'visions of sugar plums danced in their heads', except in this case the alleged candy cane was, instead, my brand new pair of rimless prescription glasses which I chewed the arm right off of. I found it on the floor, hiding fearfully under the bed skirt. They're new. They're guaranteed for life at a very chic shop in midtown Baltimore (I will wear any clothes that are within reach but glasses are the one thing I will spend money on.) I am more than willing to say I dropped them, kicked them, closed them in a door. But I do not know how to explain the bite marks.

Trial & Error

2009-12-11T18:56:00.001-05:00

fragments

2009-12-07T21:51:00.001-05:00

It is official

2009-10-28T11:21:00.002-04:00

My first solo show at the Catherine Edelman Gallery-
'8 rooms, 7 mirrors, 6 clocks, 2 minds and 199 panes of glass'
takes place-
January 8-March 6, 2010

300 W. Superior Street
Chicago, IL 60654
http://www.edelmangallery.com/upcomingexhibitions.htm

Signed!

2009-10-22T23:18:00.001-04:00

I am now represented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago. It’s a fine photo gallery established in 1987-reps Keith Carter, Olivia Parker, Michael Kenna, Joel Peter Witkin among others-(and now me). The gallery owner went to the same college I did, some years earlier. It will be nice to have a home. I started formal study when I was barely a teenager in 1984. It only took 25 years to get signed. Neat
My first major US show will be January 8th to March 6th, 2010.
www.edelmangallery.com

Fishing & Representation

2009-10-22T18:19:00.001-04:00

The fine art of fishing on a cloudy day

I think hibernation may be coming to an end in time for winter. I have an eye toward the 8x10.

I am now Represented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago
www.edelmangallery.com

Bring the candle to the flame

2009-10-15T08:44:00.002-04:00

Annual birthday picture - 12 days late.
My birthday came and went and I wasn't even there.

If bruises were kisses...

2009-08-16T12:50:00.001-04:00

we all would feel loved.

reminders that the past was real

2009-08-03T17:09:00.005-04:00

Although I am not quite convinced.

Nightmares record on silver

2009-07-25T09:53:00.002-04:00

No Comfort.

To know what it feels like to be trapped.

Hell Uninvited

Tell me you don't see her.

still grasping at straws

2009-06-19T18:25:00.001-04:00

whisper trumps a scream

equilibrium

balance comes at a high price

On the Matter of Belief and Truth

2009-06-09T10:48:00.007-04:00

For the first time this year I have a project. It is humbling how lost I felt without a direction in which to shoot.
It has always been my belief that if you can photograph a nightmare, a fool, a folly or anything that haunts you, if you can get it on paper, in silver, then you own it.
I do not know that it is true.
But you can believe something and know it is not true.
Because in the end belief is more important than the truth.

Climbing the walls. Fear makes one do strange things.

Ghosts do not sleep.

Bound by chance.

Relics. I cannot remember a time when I was not damaged.

Of 2 minds.

On the slab.

The rose is the anchor

2009-06-01T10:30:00.000-04:00

Back in the darkroom. I missed it.

Time to go dark again

2009-05-26T21:42:00.003-04:00

26 days without taking a picture. Too sick to sleep. Too sick to move.
Things you catch out of the corner of your eyes.
Nightmares or waking dreams.
This has been my most unproductive year in recent memory.
No ideas, no use for silver. I miss it.
The thing that defines you cannot abandon you.
Until it does.
Time to go dark again. All I need is an idea.

The suicidal mirror

2009-05-03T20:52:00.003-04:00

It was an old mirror, and silvered, and very tired. It was determined to cast no more reflections.

Queen Elizabeth I

2009-05-03T20:50:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling in an historical mood.

Spring

2009-04-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Update your library.

2009-04-15T21:36:00.003-04:00

'Evidence: A sociopath's handbook'
A limited number available.
Details here: www.lauren-rabbit.deviantart.com/journal/18842732

here there be monsters

2009-04-13T18:56:00.001-04:00

Shadowplay

2009-03-26T19:40:00.001-04:00

\
It was a bright sunny morning.

2009-03-22T19:22:00.002-04:00

This is a promo I received from the Ballarat Biennale director (he was kind enough to make me the cover girl which was a pleasant surprise). It is a big festival and looks to be quite a treat. I will have my first public exhibition in years (I don’t like to exhibit often, preferring to make books), my largest ever exhibit, and the first time any of these 50 (!) originals have been show publicly.
And of course there will be much other art as well. :)
You should go

Sight unseen with a heavy heart

2009-03-22T09:32:00.001-04:00

There is really no one left.

2009-03-15T21:13:00.003-04:00

A little book on blurb, quite respectably printed until I find a nice art book publisher who stops sending me refusal letters.

Complete set of images, in sequence, are viewable here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurensimonutti/sets/72157615410851431/

76 pages, a range of works- some of the Devil's Alphabet, some capriccios, a little bit of Madness. of Sorrow and the end of sorrow, and of course some Magic Tricks.
It quite nicely illustrates where I stand at the moment. Painted into the corner and just waiting for the paint to dry.

You can find it here:
www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/592298

Someone is watching over you

2009-02-28T20:12:00.000-05:00

Seeing things

2009-02-22T10:06:00.002-05:00

She began to appear in everyday things.

#8

2009-02-20T18:35:00.002-05:00

My handcolouring does not do it justice but it really is a thing of beauty. Very finely done with an equally fine wristpiece that matches (I will photograph that soon).
Protection against evil, casual and otherwise. My mind may betray me but my skin will remember.
My design, done by Jeff Pitt at Read Street Tattoo in Baltimore.
#9

The matching wristpiece, always visible, to serve as a constant reminder.

Evidence

2009-02-03T18:13:00.002-05:00

"Without Death We Would All End Up Evil." - A. Nofziger

A Sociopath's Keepsake Book
http://www.lauren-rabbit.deviantart.com/journal/18842732/

The Past is Very Small

2009-02-03T17:54:00.005-05:00

This tiny little collage that was the first thing made for Drowning. I chose not to use it but I think it is a little jewel. Too cruel for the book, though. ‘Drowning’ is in its’ own way a hopeful book. Oddly hopeful, but still.
I do not recall who I was when I made this
The past is going or gone http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5600434
and the only things that were spared are the remaining copies of ‘Evidence’ and ‘Drowning’.
And this tiny little collage. It fits in the palm of the hand.
They are the last men standing. The former is too rare to burn away and the latter too indicative of where I came from..
Now that it’s all been wiped away I find myself at a loss as to what to do.

Past for Sale, cheap.

2009-01-18T22:26:00.003-05:00

The Purge is Nearly Complete.

I am not heartless enough to throw it all away. So I made a shop. Just for them. Odd to look at who you were, acquaintances, lost friends, former lovers and put a price tag on all of it. I decided to cut and run, let it all go, cheap.
A past tense garage sale. Just for you.
www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5600434
Click on the image for a fast track detailed view.

A Work In Progress

2009-01-16T08:10:00.003-05:00

'Method' is still taking form.

I will post piecemeal for a bit until February 1st.
At which time a regular pattern should emerge.
Please stand by...

Year's End

2008-12-31T19:23:00.000-05:00

Year's End 2008 - Time Counts

This would be the math-
3 birthdays
2.946629213 years
31 months
1049 days (taking into account the leap year)
1,510,560 minutes
90, 633,600 seconds
Inside.
I would break it down further but it might make me appear obsessive.

Year's End 2007
Cross Your Heart

Inventory

Persistent Lack of Memory

Year's End 2006
The Eye

The Queen

and The Pox

Drowning, not waving

2008-12-22T11:07:00.003-05:00

The best I have to give:

I have wanted to make an affordable book and thanks to the generosity of a stranger who paid for the printing I am finally able to do so.

This is where I started. This is the book that made me. This was the first time I was able to conceive an idea and follow it through to this conclusion. This is the book that convinced me that life is worth living because there was once a time when I was not certain.
This is my first project in 4x5. This is the first book that has riddles and obviously hidden references to women, to history, to poems.
This is the book that convinced me to accept the fact that I was a freak, was born a freak and would remain so - and to be content with that.
This is 'Drowning, not waving'.

It is 76 pages, 4/4 full colour press printing. The cover is handmade with printed title and Indian handmade cornflower paper. Some people will get more flowers than others. You know how I like flowers.

I punched and comb bound each one myself.
And it is as cheap as it can be, again thanks to the kindness of strangers.
$24 includes US shipping + handling.
(I never actually charge for handling or really understand what handing is but it sounds more professional.)
$31 includes International shipping (any country).
This is the best I have to give.
I'll sign it if you want.
You know how to reach me.

And of course, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy & Hopeful New Year!

Magick

2008-12-21T05:05:00.000-05:00

The Magician

Disappearing Act

Player Piano

Contortion

The Assistant, sawn in half

Whirligig

Presentation

St. Vitus

Spell