Patterns

Patterns explores the visual and material relationship of parts to a larger, unseen whole. Featuring a combination of single-page and gatefold construction, this artist’s book presents a progression of abstract black silhouettes traced from paper sewing patterns used for the production of clothing. Harriet Bart’s austere black-and-white imagery serves as a counterpart to the haunting prose poem “Clothes” (1897) by Greek modernist poet Constantine P. Cavafy, which Bart presents in translation. In alluding to ideas of process, work, and gendered imagery, the book is a commemorative tribute to the frequently unheralded contributions of women’s labor within a patriarchal society.