MARCH 14, 2022. GRACE EBERT

“Lena” (2015). All images © Cecilia Levy

Artist Cecilia Levy (previously) carves individual words and phrases from vintage books that she then refashions into Mary Janes, fringed boots, and classic tea sets. As thin as a single sheet of paper, her fragile, pasted sculptures weave blocks of texts into new patterns and contexts that add intrigue and depth to their everyday forms. The sourced material “carries several narratives at the same time, both in the content itself and by the passing of time, for instance where light and age have turned the edges of the paper brittle and brown. My works are also about this. They reflect my inner stories and memories,” she tells Colossal.

“Hobo – Homeward Bound” (2012), book pages, paste, string. 40 x 30 x 30 centimeters

Levy models many of her pieces after items found around her home or by casting objects in a silicone mold, though it’s not only the shape that guides the work but often the prose itself. Words like “poësie,” for example, nestle into the center of a teacup piece by the same name, while other sculptures like “Lena” or “Rosa” could be likened to narrative mazes that require navigating an array of words and phrases strung together in non-linear manners.[…]

“Poësie” (2016), book pages and wheatpaste, 9-centimeter cup, 13-centimeter saucer

Read More: Found Text Weaves New Narratives in Sculptures of Common Objects by Cecilia Levy