The House of Lady XOC: Lady Batar
By Claire Jeanine Satin
1997. One-of-a-Kind.

8.5 x 5.5" 16 leafs. Written and painted on recto side. Script writing on acetate and hand-painted glyphs. Hand sewn binding with monofilament strands includes clay bead accents. Date and signature miniature page attached by monofilament strand. Slips into white net envelope with bone clasp.

Satin combines the ancient with the modern to create a book. In this structure of acetate and monofilament she reproduces Mayan glyphs and tells the story of Mayan writing. Each of the 16 pages has a Mayan glyph in color. Because it is drawn on clear acetate the reader's focus is on the glyph. But with each glyph, via her own handwriting around the edges of each page, Satin relates a little of the history of the Mayan culture. The introductory page tells us there are 350 main signs in the Mayan glyph system with 370 affixes and about 100 portrait glyphs mainly of deities. By the last page, she has covered Mayan beliefs such as the one that the earth was considered flat and four cornered. A unique presentation of history in a modern way.
$2,400

Alphabooks
By Claire Jeanine Satin
1997. Edition of 11.

Housed in 14” diameter circular cloth covered box, 1.75” high. Book text and images are photo-etched and printed on Fabriano Murillo. The boxes are covered in silver-grey Italian Cialux cloth.

This unusual edition grew out of Claire Satin's groundbreaking (literally), permanent public art installation, Alphawalk, at Tampa Regional Library in Florida. There, tiles from ten alphabetic notation systems that span the globe and historic eras are embedded in the walkways and lobby in arcing pathways that form a processional.

The texts, notations, and images that depict the history and development of the written language and individual letters, from prehistoric markings to contemporary alphabets, are reproduced and revisioned in the Alphabooks. Here, three wedge-shapes booklets of four pages each open to display eleven notations forming three full circles (the third completed by the title page) which, when opened out from the center, simulate the walk through history that Satin committed to the ground. The circular case of the book (14 inches diameter; 1.75 inches high) houses four pie-shaped books in a divided tray. The fourth reproduces images, phrases, poetry, and accompanying texts from and on the various cultures that have contributed to the development of writing and the modern alphabet.

Though editioned, each copy is unique. Satin chose one figure from each system and fabricated tiles for the top covers which lifts from the bottom tray in the style of an old film canister. The eleven notation systems of the edition are: Prehistoric, Egyptian Hieroglyphic, Greek, Hebrew, Chinese, Arabic, Tibetan, Cyrillic, Cherokee, Mayan, and Roman.

An impressive work.
$4,000 (Available boxes: Roman, Egyptian, Hieroglypic, Chinese)

The Kanji Book
By Claire Jeanine Satin
Dania Beach, Florida: 1983. One-of-a-Kind.

9 x 9.5"; 11 leaves. Laid in a lightweight black card box tied with black satin ribbon.

Claire Satin: "A portfolio which has become the basis of an ongoing large body of works having its origin in ancient Japanese music notations. The imagery in these pages is a re-presentation, not a copy, of markings taken by scholars from historical scrolls depicting Buddhist chants and hymns. They are a combination of Kanji (the character/symbol from an older letter system) and the melodic lines or strokes which accompany them. The aesthetic as well as the functional quality is visually most persuasive.

"Each page is a unique configuration and has been enhanced three-dimensionally with random silk knots. As the pulp is in a very wet stage until the final drainage takes place, and the pages are done in reverse, the ultimate arrangement of the image is virtually a chance operation. It is this process approach that allows for possibilities beyond conscious decision-making and results in high energy and simply unique imagery."
$4,000

Pentimento Series:

Claire Jeanine Satin: "I make images, most frequently, in the book format where content is either metaphorical or referential. These images are meant to encourage a new approach away from current influences and to capture the meaning of art from past aesthetic constraints. My process of art making is not a purely physical aesthetic, but while rooted in touch, emotion and visual impact, it also has a potent historical or social dimension."

Pentimento / Art Typing #3
By Claire Jeanine Satin
Dania Beach. Florida: One-of-a-Kind.

8.5 x 5.5"; 18 pages. Printing on acetate with metallic overprinting, monofilament, and glass beads.

This bookwork from the Pentimento Series is a homage to Satin's father who taught stenography and stenotyping.

Claire Satin: "The overlaying of texts results in a unique and unplanned configuration, possible only by means of a chance system. This conceptual approach has its origins in my association with the artist/composer John Cage and his ideas of indeterminacy and the release of the ego in decision-making. Each page retains its integrity while also able to be viewed simultaneously."
$1,750

Pentimento XXXIX Mehndi/Hamsa
By Claire Jeanine Satin
Dania Beach, Florida: 2002/2003. One-of-a-Kind.

8.5 x 5.5"; 18 pages. Printing on acetate with ink and handwritten text. Materials: monofilament, glass beads, and synthetic eyelashes.

Claire Satin: "Pentimento refers to the concept of reappearances, hence the use of transparency and therefore visual multiplicity and indeterminacy. Further, these ideas emanate from my long-term association with John Cage. The hand imagery: HAMSA from the Semitic word meaning five; an amulet worn to ward off the evil eye; protective hand of God; divine might; also the hand of Fatima; the henna handprints (mehndi). The hand image has appeared everywhere in science and art throughout the centuries."
$1,750