Couturier Dreams

Description

A self-confessed “plain dresser”, Katharine Adams instead dazzles the world with the fabulous collection that is Couturier Dreams. Gorgeous floating emulsion “garments” dance on every page, with a life and style all of their own. Essentially self-taught, Adams makes collaged emulsion images by removing Polaroid photographs from their paper backing and placing them into baths of warm water. She then remounts them onto Arches Watercolor paper, coaxing them into a suggestive silhouette – sometimes taking up to six hours to achieve what she wants. The results are joyful, playful, sensual and original, with a sense of freedom that is gloriously liberating. Spending long hours in the darkroom, Adams describes getting into a dream state as vital to her work. “A type of alchemy occurs,” she explains, “when the image is set free, floating, and my journey starts.” This beautifully produced book features forty of the artist’s most powerful images, richly printed on matt Japanese paper. A stunning first monograph, Couturier Dreams is limited to 1,500 casebound copies. It opens with an essay by Dana Friis-Hansen.