Suzanne Moore

Vashon Island, Washington

Routes, 1990

Altered traditional page design, word/image relationships, abstracted sewing diagrams and illegible calligraphic forms play on the conventions of traditional manuscript book design, content and form. Page spreads of calligraphic “messages” on saturated color fields alternate with spreads of various shades and tones of intense reds. Forty-eight page manuscript; mixed media on paper. This manuscript was the first non-verbal book created by Moore. The volume was bound by Donald Glaister, with exposed spine sewing. The covers of painted Mylar constructions of abstract “A” and “Z” were encapsulated in Mylar in the manner of modern conservation. 24.5 x 17 x 1 centimeters. Lent by the Mortimer Rare Book Room, Neilson Library, Smith College.

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Suzanne Moore is a painter and lettering artist whose book works explore the boundaries and links between word and image. Over twenty years, her manuscript books have investigated such subjects as Sequoyah and the Cherokee syllabic writing system, the spiritual aspects of gardening, and artists’ thoughts on creative process. As part of the Wales-based team of illuminators and scribes, she is one of two Americans creating illuminations for the Saint John’s Bible. Among the private and public collections in the USA and Europe which have acquired Suzanne’s work are the Pierpont Morgan Library, The Library of Congress, The James S. Copley Library, and the rare book collections at Harvard University, Smith College and Wellesley College.