New Acquisition: Rebecca Norris Webb's "My Dakota"

Last month I purchased My Dakota at Ampersand Gallery and Fine Books (most glorious art bookstore in all of Portland) and have been contemplating its presence on my desk ever since.

At first I was drawn to the pencil thin, feathery use of text that spills across the pages. The handwritten quality emphasizes the grief that Norris Webb experienced after unexpectedly losing her brother to heart failure. I also gravitate to artwork that embeds the land with memories and the symbolic references of place.

Wildlife weaves its way through the narrative - deer visiting the lawns of the houses of the dead and buffalo inhabiting the South Dakota prairies.

 

I am always searching for new ways to combine text and image and this elegant book based on documentary photography but steeped in personal history is an inspiration.