Please Forgive Me, 2016
Artist book bound using red linen thread and Keith Smith’s Greek Sewing, in Tyvek and handmade paper enclosure. Lenox paper, ink, gesso, hand-set metal type, binders board, Tyvek, silk book cloth, mirror for installation
Unique Edition
Please Forgive Me, is a 28 signature book inspired by the Hawaiian forgiveness meditation Ho’oponopono.
Anyone who has navigated the process of forgiveness knows it can be a challenging path. Ho‘oponopono repeats the same four phrases over and over with the intention of forgiving the self, loved ones, enemies and beyond.
The four phrases are:
- I’m sorry.
- Please forgive me.
- I love you.
- Thank you.
How do we forgive: each other, ourselves, the many atrocities in our world? How can we hold lightness in our hearts when so much hatred and anger fills our world? Perhaps Ho‘oponopono can help. This book repeats those phrases over and over, becoming the meditation itself.
Each phrase was printed onto each one of the 28 signatures that were first painted with various inks and gesso resists. They are bound using the Greek Sewing (page 258) from Keith Smith’s Non-Adhesive Binding Volume III: Exposed Spine Sewings.