My art is inspired by many ideas—historical, philosophical, scientific—and every piece demands its own media and execution. Books, however, have always occupied a special place in my heart, both as aesthetic objects and conduits for ideas. Thus, it was a great honor to be invited to participate in the 2008 exhibit “Banned and Recovered: Artists Respond to Censorship.” The exhibit was mounted simultaneously at the SF Center for the Book and the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.

My sculptural piece “Harry Potter & The Fires of Ignorance” was inspired by the fourth Harry Potter book—Harry Potter & The Goblet of Fire. Given the book’s 2001 release date, most likely copies of the Goblet of Fire were those burned in March 2001 in the first such protest incident; a small evangelical group in Pittsburgh had taken offense at the book’s portrayal of witchcraft (interestingly, they admitted to not having read the book).  This turned out to be the first of many such incidents around the United States.

Liz Hager, “Harry Potter & The Fires of Ignorance” (cover view),
Books, matches, wood, strike pad, digital prints; 14 x 14 x 18 inches
©Liz Hager

My piece plays with the various meanings of “recover”—i.e. to cover again, to regain possession, even to remove or extract (as, say, from a fire).

A de-acquisitioned library copy of The Goblet of Fire became the genesis of the sculpture.  I created a new dust jacket for this book from matches and deconstructed matchboxes. Harry Potter—part of the illustration from the original dustjacket—peers out from his bunker, under siege, as it were. The new spine (printed on wood) cites the various burning and mutilation incidents around the country. The cross formed by strike pad material and spine symbolizes the paradoxical nature of religion in which creation/destruction co-exist.  Inside the book, I added special pages to carry various quotes and excerpts about censorship that were important to me.    The “recovered” book rises from the ashes of burned books, also copies of The Goblet of Fire.

Liz Hager, “Harry Potter & The Fires of Ignorance” (inside view),
Books, matches, wood, strike pad, digital prints; 14 x 14 x 18 inches
©Liz Hager

I wanted the work to embody the incendiary nature of the censorship battle, the fragility of the cultural legacy that books represent, and the ultimately hopeful triumph of books under all threats of censorship.

Under the auspices of the California Exhibition Resources Alliance, The Fires of Ignorance will travel through 2013 with other works from “Banned & Recovered” exhibit.

More Information
Banned & Recovered catalog

Liz Hager, “Santa Bernadeta (de las Benditas Locuras),” 2007,
Digital MetalType with objects in handmade box
Approximately 14 x 10″

Santa Bernadeta is an imaginary saint, whose creation was inspired by the magical blend of indigenous, religious, and colonial Spanish influences that uniquely defines Latin and South American culture. 

I invented Santa Bernadeta through my own photographs of rich and diverse pictorial elements found in Puebla, Cuernavaca, and Taxco, the colonial heartland of Mexico. The text sprang solely from my own diabolical mind.

“Our Lady of Ocotlan,” Mexico, 19th century
(courtesy Mexican Retablos)

This Digital Metaltype references the retablos, or retablos santos, tradition. This is a particular style of devotional painting found throughout Latin & South America, which was introduced into the area as a result of the Spanish conquest.

Originally, only the wealthy could afford retablos, as they were painted on expensive substrates—canvas, wood or copper. By the early 1800s, however, cheaper tin-plated steel became widely available and retablos provided an affordable way for the masses to possess a sacred object that would ensure health, fertility, or general good luck.

“La Mano Ponderosa/The Powerful Hand”
(courtesy Colonial Arts)

Today retablos are as much collected for their folk art properties as for their religious value. Executed largely by untrained artists, most retablos present an image of the saint or miracle accompanied by an explanatory text, which is often executed in child-like script. As a result, they have a naive and utterly-enchanting quality.

“Por gracias a la Virgen de San Juan. . . ” 20th century retablo
(courtesy Venetian Red)

Though she may not be an official member of the Catholic canon, I am confident that, in her own tortured way, Santa Bernadeta bestowes good luck on all who come into contact with her.

“Santa Bernadeta” Translation
When she was a young nun, Sister Bernadette was poor, humble and suffered from extreme emotional instability, although she had beautiful hair. Her life was a series of psychological crises. She prayed continually to Jesus, asking him to show her the way from physical pain & suffering.  One night “el Señor” appeared to her and ordered her to stop thinking of herself and help others. After this vision, Sister Bernadette founded a hospital for the insane and dedicated her life to helping many people. Unfortunately, she herself was never cured, but she was canonized in 1986, becoming St. Bernadette of the Blessedly Insane.

The World Beyond
Museum of Spanish Colonial Art
A wide variety of retablos and ex-votos at Mariposa Folk Arts

Botanica celebrates the diversity and ingenuity of plants, as displayed in their circulatory, tissue, and reproductive systems. Trained as a painter, I find I am always drawn to the color, texture and form in my subjects. Thus, for the images in the Botanica series, I purposely embraced the manipulative features of the digital medium, in order to push photographic images into the realm of the painterly. There are 12 prints in the series. Each was a limited edition of 10.

Liz Hager, “Fig Leaves, Marrakech,” 2006
Digital Metaltype, 12 x 12 inches

I completed the Botanica series in the fall of 2006, after half of year of experimentation with printing directly onto various metal surfaces, including copper, brass, nickel and tin. The metal ultimately chosen for each print was dictated by the image.

Liz Hager, “Waterlily #1, Buenos Aires,” 2006
Digital Metaltype, 12 x 12 inches

Botanica was inspired by the earliest form of successful photographic images, Daguerretypes. These metal-based photographs were first introduced to the world in 1839 by Louis Daguerre (1787–1851), who perfected a process whereby images were fixed on copper plates. A plate was prepared with an iodine solution to form a light-sensitive “emulsion.” After exposing the plate to light and heating over mercury, the plate (with its image) was fixed in a solution of common salt and rinsed in distilled water.

Liz Hager, “Peonies, Madrid,” 2006
Digital Metaltype, 12 x 12 inches

I also coated the metal substrates with a wet “emulsion,” although my materials weren’t as toxic as Daguerre’s. After the emulsion dried, I ran the metal plates through my Epson printer and “fixed” them with a UV varnish. I coined the term Digital Metaltypes as a unique descriptor of the process.

Gallery
All prints 2006, 12 x 12 inches, Digital Metaltypes