Volume II: Tool Box, 2018
The second iteration of The Tool Book Project, “Tool Box” is a custom designed, handmade box containing limited edition artworks from five artists: Sue Havens, Awilda Rodriguez Lora, Mick Lorusso, Carissa Potter, and Cristina Victor, that inspire, support and create dialogues of care, communion, and comfort. Tool Box is a fundraiser for AgitArte , an organization of working class artists and cultural organizers, who provide material and cultural aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria to the people of Puerto Rico. In Spring 2018 “Tool Box” debuted as the center-piece for an exhibit, “Comfort Level” at Field Projects Gallery in NYC which focused on artists impacted by climate change. “Tool Box” is also the subject of a February, 2019 show at LMAK Gallery in NYC. View contributing artists and events.
Tool Book Contains
Brick and Mortar series, Sue Havens
Fired clay, acrylic paint, ceramic glazes, variable dimensions, approx. 10” x 3” x 5”, 2018
The term “brick and mortar”refers to both the literal materials that make up architectural space and, in contemporary terms, a business or place that is non-virtual, existing in the concrete world. Sue Haven’s playful and complex Brick and Mortar ceramic pieces play with this conceit, the non-digital, by transforming familiar textures and shapes into satisfyingly layered, surface-rich objects. Haven’s handmade vessels reference the complex interplay between painting and sculpture.
La Mujer Maravilla: Guerreras #1, Awilda Rodriguez Lora
Silkscreen on Mulberry paper, 9” x 11”, 2018
Awilda Rodriguez Lora’s La Mujer Maravilla: Guerreras #1 asks “How do we transform ourselves into warriors for love and justice?” Lora’s hand screen-printed dual-sided text is inspired by a new law in Puerto Rico which makes it illegal for citizens to cover their faces during public manifestations and re-imagines how we may join together to fight for social justice.
Prayers to Microbial Ancestors, Mick Lorusso
Woodblock print on cotton fabric, 10" x 10" x 1/16" Inkjet print on vellum, 11” x 11”, 2017
“What if we were to simply acknowledge the consciousness of all living cells, and that they participate in an intricate web of communications across the planet?” Mick Lorusso’s practice imagines interconnections between the scientific and the spiritual. His Prayers to Microbial Ancestors (instructions provided) are white fabric triangles with woodblock prints meant to absorb and reflect the environment which they are hung. The flags were conceptualized at a residency in Switzerland near the Aletsch Glacier and are meant to occupy a corner space, like kites “receiving projects of journies through microscopic and macroscopic territories.”
Prayer Kit for Any Imminent Situation, Cristina Victor
Handmade cards, ceramic holder, tealight, case, 7” x 9” x 3,” 2018
Prayer Kit for Any Imminent Situation contains a tea light, pencil, prayer cards, and a hand-formed ceramic card and tea light holder with two grooves - one for a pinch of earth and the other for a drop of water. Cristina Victor is Miami born and of Cuban descent. Her practice surrounds her heritage and identity. In her Prayer Kit for Any Imminent Situation, Victor uses the elements of earth, fire, and water to assist the participant in the creation of a personal prayer that celebrates and mourns the places we will lose to climate change. The cards are written in three languages, Spanish, English, and Creole making a contemplative, cross-cultural space for communion in times of chaos.
Some Space Ear Plugs, Carissa Potter
Foam earplugs and custom box, 1.5” x 1.5” x 1.5,” 2018
"Take a deep long breath, things will turn out alright." - People I’ve Loved Carissa Potter’s Some Space Ear Plugs prescribe self-care. Our heads are filled with the content of the world around us, swimming with the latest news of another tragedy or an ongoing injustice. The earplugs give us a simple gesture to allow for respite and suggest revitalizing our most basic need for silence.
Tool Box and Comfort Level’s unique folding broadside catalog was designed by Sabina Nieto , a creative and practical project shepherd in San Francisco, Ca.
The Tool Box box was handmade by Sophia Kramer of White Iris Books. Sophia is a bookbinder and book conservator who teaches at the Center for Book Arts in New York City.
Facebook: Took Book Project
Instagram: @toolbookproject