ebb

light cast through stitching of facing page

coptic-stitch binding detail, recycled book - Jennifer Hawkins Hock 

peek inside at pages - with handpainted edits and stitched wordsmithing

stitched and collaged additions to the original book's artwork

stitched wordsmithing - Jennifer Hawkins Hock at Toile La La

reworked book with coptic-stitching - Jennifer Hawkins Hock

paint-edited text with collage - "Existential ebb" book, JHH

Her 19th century voice sounded to my ears - both 1990s Goth and filled with the sorrow which current events might cast upon a sensitive heart. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets sat upon a shelf in a secondhand thrift bookshop - unread. Her voice perhaps unheard - because, like life and culture, language shifts to mirror conditions. Barrett Browning's words, written during a time of courtship, are primarily odes to love - but some sadness dulls the shine. E.B.B. weaves within her words an appreciation of life - as well as studies of existence.  In examining each poem, I wanted to snip away the frill of Romantic literature and glimpse something more Zen... minimal. Edited, E.B.B.'s sonnets lend a perspective which feels current. Edited, Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnets are like a text message from today - sent to a 90s goth.