Book
Caudex Folium
- Description
- Handmade artist book titled Caudex Folium (2016) by Maria G. Pisano (b. 1952). The book includes two poems and the story of the Survivor Tree, illustrations, pop-up elements, and cut stencils enrich the work.
The pages of the book are printed intaglio and relief using collagraph and laser-cut woodblock plates on an etching press. The book is bound with an accordion spine with sewn folios and Coptic wooden covers. The spine is a print of a tree, which expands and symbolically holds the book up. Diverse papers were used for the book: Rives BFK, mulberry paper for the intaglio and relief prints, Fabriano Tiziano hand-cut pages and end sheets for the pop-up pages, and Moriki paper for the concertinaed interior structure where the book pages are bound. The spine relief print is Coptic bound on wooden covers. Memory Press © 2016. - Historical Notes
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In October 2001, recovery workers at Ground Zero found a Callery pear tree in the wreckage. It was badly damaged, but alive. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation nursed the tree back to health. It was replanted at the new World Trade Center site in 2010.
This Survivor Tree, as it became known, inspired artist Maria Pisano to create the interactive book. Pop-ups, prints, and poems within the hand-printed pages are a tribute to the tree’s resilience and strength.
Curator's Comment
Born in Locri, Italy, book artist Maria Pisano emigrated to the United States in her youth and was at her home in Plainsboro, New Jersey, on the morning of September 11. In the wake of the attacks, she ventured to Ground Zero with her husband to pay their respects and to photograph the unnerving wreckage. She returned to the site when the 9/11 Memorial opened to the public in 2011. There, she encountered the story of the Survivor Tree for the first time.
In addition to her own artistic practice, Pisano is a scholar, a curator, and a lecturer on how artist books function as keepers of the collective memory.
In addition to her own artistic practice, Pisano is a scholar, a curator, and a lecturer on how artist books function as keepers of the collective memory.
- Accession Number: C.2023.2.1
- Dimensions: 13 in X 10.25 in X 1.5 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 33.02 cm X 26.035 cm X 3.81 cm
- Source: Maria G. Pisano
- Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum
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