Writer and visual artist Wendy Fernstrum wins the 2016 Minnesota Book Artist Award for her new work entitled One Is the Holiest Number (#2)
The Friends and the Minnesota Book Awards are pleased to announce Wendy Fernstrum as the winner of the 2016 Minnesota Book Artist Award for her new work, One Is the Holiest Number (#2), which was completed in 2015. Sponsored by Lerner Publishing Group, this annual award is presented by Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) and the Minnesota Book Awards, and recognizes a Minnesota book artist or book artist collaborative group for excellence of a new artistic work. Winners also show demonstrated proficiency and quality in the book arts through three supporting pieces of previous work, as well as an ongoing commitment and significant contributions to Minnesota’s book arts community.
One is the Holiest Number (#2) is a meditation on the paradox of one: how each of us as an individual is distinctly one, yet simultaneously part of a unified whole, as one. Fernstrum has investigated this theme for several years, creating work that explores the “in-between space” where identity is constantly shifting and certainties lose form. Work in the series has included monoprints, sculptural works, and installations. One is the Holiest Number (#2) is a traditional multi-signature codex incorporating relief, intaglio and letterpress printing. Text is minimal, allowing a variety of shapes, patterns, and textures to communicate content. Innovative page designs that hide and reveal imagery – a characteristic found in many of Fernstrum’s book works – prompt viewers/readers to slow their pace and provide opportunities for personal reflection. Quiet and unassuming, One is the Holiest Number (#2) isa wonderful combination of material form and narrative content.
Wendy Fernstrum has been making artist’s books for more than 20 years and writes, designs, prints, and binds her work under the press name of Fernwerks. An exhibit celebrating her long career in book arts will be on display February 19 – April 11 in the Cowles Literary Commons, on the second floor of the Open Book building (1011 Washington Avenue South, Minneapolis), with an opening reception on Friday, February 19 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Fernstrum will also receive special recognition and an award at the 28th annual Minnesota Book Awards Celebration on Saturday, April 16, 2016 at the Saint Paul Union Depot. Tickets will go on sale in February.
The Minnesota Book Awards is a statewide, year-round outreach program of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library in partnership with the Saint Paul Public Library and City of Saint Paul. Explore more at www.thefriends.org or call 651/366-6497 for more information about the Minnesota Book Awards. Visit www.mnbookarts.org or call 612-215-2527 for more information about Minnesota Center for Book Arts.