Handmade artist book
5 x 4 inches (5 x 16 inches when open)
Edition of 10
2013
Our Worst Years is a handmade artist book that chronicles my journey, and my father's journey, through our cancer treatments. The format of the book shows the parallel, yet different nature of our experiences through the use of family photos and first-person journal style writing. Each side of the book can be read independently, or the two stories can be read simultaneously. While the book is closed it is relatively small, easily held in one hand. However, once opened it expands four times in size and becomes cumbersome to view. The physical difficulty in viewing the book mimics the emotional difficulty of the subject matter. While my own experience with cancer ended with my survival, my father’s experience ended with his death. The book questions why this would happen and how we are supposed to go on, however it gives no answers.
The pages of Our Worst Years are hand dyed with raspberries, and all the edges are hand tore. The images in the book are DASS transfers, with inkjet text. The book is made up of two smaller books; each side is bound using a pamphlet stitch, and the two sides are held together with a flat-back case. Our Worst Years was created in an edition of 10.