Theorem
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Theorem began in the summer of 2017 as a creative exchange with poet Elizabeth Bradfield. Prompted by a book of my images, Elizabeth responded in writing. Over the course of two years, we shaped this exchange into an evocative visual, tactile, and lyric experience in book form. In Theorem, spare images, distilled text, and the resonant space between investigate the legacy of secrets acquired in childhood and held through a life.
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Candor Arts, Chicago, IL, published Theorem as a limited edition fine art book in 2019. The book is letterpressed, encased in a cloth wrap, and I hand-worked each copy. Books from this edition have been placed in major institutional and private collections including Art Institute of Chicago, Hammer Museum, Harvard Art Museums, New York Public Library, Northwestern University, Brandeis University Special Collections, Menil Collection, Stanford University, Yale University, Zell Collection, and others.
A trade edition of Theorem was published by Poetry Northwest in November 2020 and can be purchased through: Poetry Northwest Editions | Amazon | IndieBound | Bookshop.org
Gabrielle Bates, Brooklyn Rail, April 2021
“The words are spare, surrounded by white space, and the artwork works in tandem with the text to build a world that highlights both aloneness and interdependence…”
Jessica Johnson, The Diagram, April 2021
“In Theorem, Contro's drawings and paintings place forms in relation to each other, in tension or correspondence or conversation. Some have unexpected shadows that read as more substantial than the bodies that cast them…”
S. Nicole Lane, The Reader, February 2021
“Theorem is not what you may expect from a book of poems. The long text is a push-pull relationship between writer and artist. The reader is immediately thrown into the conversation between two artists, separated by distance.…”
Hannah VanderHart, EcoTheo Review, November 2020
“From its first image and word, Theorem is invested in the idea of enclosures, and how a person experiences the world through shapes and language that fit inside other shapes, and other language. A parallel formal interest of Theorem is how an artistic narrative fits between two artists, and two distinct voices of making.…”
Ashley Lukasik, Newcity, August 2020
“In Theorem everything is born of exchange between Bradfield and Contro. The book is not merely a shared aesthetic; it embodies the obsessions and curiosities of two individually celebrated voices.…”