Mira Coviensky ~ Toronto, Canada

Forlorn Comfort
By Mira Coviensky
2006. Edition of 20.

9.5 x 23 x 0.5" closed. When open, the width (approximately 21") and depth (approximately 12") are variable; the piece can be curved and opened in different ways and to varying amounts to highlight different aspects and to fit the display space. Materials: Somerset paper, transparent polyester film.

Mira Coviensky: "'Forlorn Comfort' arose out of a grouping of events: seeing a heron in the small area of wetlands left in downtown Toronto, noticing the enormous amount of natural imagery in the plastic items at the local dollar store, hearing the birds outside my window, picking leaves from the trees while walking by Lake Ontario, rereading an old article on the disappearing songbirds, and being reminded of a quote questionably attributed to Chief Seattle in 1854.

The quote, "If all the beasts were gone, man would die from a great loneliness of spirit", is interwoven in Forlorn Comfort with statistics (from Canadian Geographic, 2004) on how quickly species are becoming extinct.

Overlaying the text and overlapping the silhouette of the single heron are repeated images of leaves from one of the trees. The silhouette is based on a photograph in National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds, Eastern Region, 1994.

"This sculptural book is meant to be viewed upright, with the pages spread and curved. The interaction of transparent mylar and opaque paper, of the layering and the blocking of images, creates a complex composite image and conveys a sense of time and distance."
$400

By Mira Coviensky
2006. Open Edition.

2.5 x 6 x 5.5" wire box with lid. Materials used Moriki kozo paper, found object. Paper title on lid. Pages are individual scrolls of text, excerpts from the "6087 Books on Marriage.."

Mira Coviensky: "After friends of mine told me they were getting married, I idly went to my local library website to see if there were any interesting books on marriage that I might get them. When I saw that there were over 6000 books on marriage, I was fascinated. The books ranged from the first Marriage Acts of Canada to opera titles, and included titles both solemn and humorous. The artists' book, Selections from the 6087 Books on Marriage in the Toronto Public Library as of May 2006, is the result."
$125

Well-Meaning People
By Mira Coviensky
2005. One-of-a-Kind.

14 x 19 x 2.5" wire book.

Mira Coviensky uses everyday materials for her book structures. She explores formal issues of book structures and of transparency and translucency while retaining the familiarity of the book form. The subjects of her books are based on encounters in daily life.

"In 1996 I began working on a series of artists' books about the suffering I had witnessed working with patients, about the fragility of our bodies, and about the health care workers who care for us. The series is titled Seeking Equanimity. Two things became clear as I worked in health care: one, that the pain I witnessed was endless and often felt like a burden, and two, that it was only an accident of life that I was the caregiver and not the care receiver. Well-Meaning People is the third book in the series. It is about staff and the reality of spending every workday with people who are in pain. The patients are trapped in their physical limitations, temporarily or permanently. The staff are also trapped-by their need for an income, by their inability to process the amount of pain they are witnessing, by a health care system that supports the emotional needs of neither patient nor caretaker. But there is also beauty: of kindness, generosity, gratitude and empathy, and always there is the mystery of human motivations and behavior. In the book, the beauty of the layers of polymer and of light on the metal mesh, and the mystery of seeing the text through transparent and translucent elements reflect this beauty and mystery."
$950