A specially commissioned collection of 20 bookends designed and made in Scotland.
Inspired by the adventures of pioneering Dundonian journalists Marie Imandt and Bessie Maxwell in 1894, design curator Dr Stacey Hunter invited 20 of Scotland’s most exciting contemporary designers to each create a daring and unique pair of bookends.
‘Possibilities of Enjoyment' by Juli Bolaños–Durman
I approached the brief by attempting to put myself in Marie's and Bessie's shoes. I cannot start to comprehend the excitement and courage needed to embark on this epic journey around the world, especially for two women in the 1890s.
By observing women from other countries and cultures and how they carried themselves in all the variations of grace and beauty; all of this while pondering what it meant to be a woman in a world built by men.
The chronicles go on to delve into exquisite accounts of a rich world appreciated with the 5 senses and these informed all the many ways for the possibilities of enjoyment imprinted into the sculptures. Joyful compositions of discarded materials invited to be reimagined and intuitive hand-cuttings mirroring pictoric descriptions of scenes of constant bustle and merriment or the many shades of rose and saffron.
My bookends are a celebration of women, our sensibility and this incredible soft power. A silhouette of the feminine form and a breast, our universal symbol.
Even today, I can fully relate to the last quote of the book – ‘…every day we waken to a newer fuller sense of power and responsibility’. The bookends are an ode to this force.
Photography was conceived of and produced on-site at MSIP by Reuben Paris.
Studio Shots by Paula Szturc at Custom Lane.