Collaborative Books, 2020-2024
Collaborative Books: Wendy Woon + Rika Burnham, Sasha Chavchavadze, Orion Giridharadas, Ava Hudson, Elise Hudson, Barbara Klunder, Barbara Lounder, M’Lou Mayo, Denise Milan, Helen O’Donoghue, Emily Pringle, Ethan Sanchez, Catherine Shelton-Jones, and James Zanzi. (Exhibited at Rodman Art Institute of Niagara, July 19 - August 30, 2024)
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I began a series of collaborative visual conversations using accordion books. After retiring from over 35 years in museums, I sent the first book to my friend Helen O'Donoghue, with whom I had shared close dialogue during her Fulbright Fellowship with me at MoMA in New York. The goal was to create a visual dialogue exchanged by mail until we felt it was complete. Art often feels solitary, especially during the pandemic, prompting me to extend this project to others—some longtime friends and new acquaintances who seemed receptive to the idea. Each book began with an invitation to participate and a spontaneous gesture of India ink. I selected a unique book for each person, dropped ink onto the pages, and let it flow as I manipulated the books. I also added small images or materials that connected to prior conversations. Each book, tied with black and white string, had a tag inviting the recipient to contribute however they chose. Some books swiftly moved through two to three rounds, while others took longer—some were lost in the mail and reappeared miraculously. In the end, however, we completed our exchanges. We are thrilled to share these visual conversations with you, representing connection during a disconnection time.
Rika Burnham + Wendy Woon, 2021 -23, 5” x 7 “
Sasha Chavchavadze + Wendy Woon, 2022-3, 5” x 7”
Orion Parker Giridharadas + Wendy Woon, 2021-3, 4” x 4”
Ava Hudson + Wendy Woon, 2022-4, 6” x 8”
Elise Hudson + Wendy Woon, 2021-23, 5” x 7”
Barbara Klunder + Wendy Woon, 2022-3 , 5” x 7”
Barbara Lounder + Wendy Woon, 2022-3, 5” x 7”
M’Lou Mayo + Wendy Woon, 2021, 4” x 4”
Denise MIlan + Wendy Woon, 2021 - 24, 5” x 7”
Helen O”Donoghue + Wendy Woon, 2020 - 2024, 5” x 7”
Emily Pringle + Wendy Woon, 2023-4, 6” x 8”
Catherine Shelton Jones + Wendy Woon, 2022-3, 5” x 7”
James Zanzi + Wendy Woon, 2021-3, 5” x 7”
The Land of Bad Karma Drawings with Nancy Plotkin, 1981
These are a selection from over 50 collaborative drawings made in 1981 with artist Nancy Plotkin (1931-2013), a fellow graduate student in Sculpture at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. We divined the Tarot and decided that the drawings would be about bad things happening in nature and to animals. No humans, except small body parts, could be included. We decided to call the series “The Land of Bad Karma,” We each started drawings, and the other would finish them. Now when I look at them, I can’t tell who drew what for sure, but I know that her silliness and naughtiness profoundly shaped the drawings and my life.
Debra Friedman and Wendy Woon, 1988
This installation collaborated with photographer Debra Friedman, with whom I traveled to Mexico for my second research trip. Kahlo’s work, Los Dos Fridas (1939), inspired me since I saw it at the Museum of Modern Art. The decorated body cast of Frida Kahlo, which we saw at The Frida Museum, inspired this work.
Ethan Sanchez and Wendy Woon, 2009
These Moleskin accordion books were an engaging way to collaborate with my son when he was around nine. At the time, we lived in a loft with expansive floor space, allowing us to unfold the book and work on it with a comprehensive view of all the pages.