Mariah Robertson Book of Details 2024 Fine SC Abstract Photogram Artist Book

Robertson, Mariah. Printed by Hemlock of Canada, 2024.

English Language, 2024 Edition, SC 4to, 8" x 12", 112 pp. 

ISBN:9798218516901

Fine perfectbound softcover in wraparound pictorial wraps, bold white lettering to front and back covers, tight binding, sharp tips, exhibiting no visible shelf wear. Self-published, one of 500 copies. Book of Details is a collection of full bleed detail shots of Robertson’s abstract photochemical and photogram works made between the years 2009-2023. The book is printed half digitally on uncoated pages and offset on glossy pages to reflect the relationship of analogue works being digitally photographed and to give a physical awareness of the paper as one turns the pages.  Also includes a short essay on the making. From the essay: "These works aren't meant to look like pictures of anything...[I]n this process, their shapes and colors are the outcomes of time, temperature, and/or chance combinations of liquid chemicals. The process doesn't allow for editing, like a painting or an essay, but rather is like a performance that happens in a specific moment in time."

Mariah Robertson is an artist known primarily for work experimenting with darkroom techniques and materials. Her practice began in the late 1990's with improvisational performance work inspired by 1970's conceptual art and by an anthropological and philosophical study of various religions. Robertson applies these foundational strategies of inquiry across the photographic process, testing assumptions by inverting the gendered gaze, exploring technical and chemical processes, pushing physical properties to extremes, and challenging the relationship between frame and artwork. She encourages change and mutability by merging proficiency, curiosity, and a dose of knowing humor.