Looking Out / Looking In
2021 Member's Exhibition

 

Briand

Servane Briand

Servanebriand.com
A French native, Servane first came to California in 1985. She has lived in San Francisco, Paris, and Palo Alto. She worked in various fields and made a radical move from high tech to printmaking and book arts in 2006. She is currently an artist in residence at Cubberley Artist Studio Program in Palo Alto and studies fine binding with Eleanore Ramsey in San Francisco. Her books may be an attempt to gentle the information overload and make a pause in time, while she welcomes the wealth of data and ideas that are today’s constant source of inspiration.

Which Way

When I sailed as a kid, there was no GPS and we used navigation plotters to trace triangles on nautical charts and help approximate our location. Over the years as we practiced on familiar territories the over folded overstudied charts became complex blue/white/yellow forests of tiny triangles. Sometimes and especially in times of transition I dream I have a small compass that gently points my mind into a direction or another. As the book opens into a square, we can re-orient or change our bearings but the games continues and the triangle returns providing more questions and suggesting other ways.

Which Way
17.5 x 11.5 x 2.5 cm
Coptic Binding in a box, decorative paper, sensuede, inks and watercolor on Rives BFK paper.
2016

Where We Headed¿

A playful book, Where We Headed¿ tells a crazy story about a fictional group of students who follow their art teacher Kent on a learning journey. We explored the weird space that may happen in the translation of popular expressions (mostly French and English). This gave us a somewhat bizarre narrative that we illustrated in a DADA spirit, using watercolor backgrounds and collages.

Where We Headed¿
18 x 10 x 1.5 cm
Drum leaf case binding. Archival digital prints on mohawk superfine text from original collages on watercolor background
2015

work in progress

Inspired by famous paintings and etchings, work in progress is a series of monotypes collected in an artist's book, an introspective pursuit of what shapes a person and makes a life meaningful. It is a very personal work and an invitation to conversation for the many people and works it references.

45 x 38 x 2.5 cm
cover in Pergamena orange parchment, archival digital prints on Awagami and Asuka paper, etching inks, kakishibu, watercolor pencils, beeswax and pigment.
2019