New England Book Artists’ Featured Member for February is book artist, printmaker, photographer, painter, and educator Sara Ringler. Based on Cape Cod, she earned her MFA from the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth (1988) and her BFA from the University of Buffalo, N.Y. (1968) in Painting and Printmaking. For nearly three decades, she has been teaching at Cape Cod Community College. As a full-time professor, her courses include Printmaking, Drawing, Design, and Book Arts and Papermaking. Her expertise, infinite patience, and devotion to her students have made Ringler one of the College’s most beloved teachers. During her tenure, she also served as Director of the Higgins Art Gallery, where she rightfully earned a reputation for curating inventive and provocative shows.
Ringler has always been an integral part of the arts community on the Cape, serving as President of the Monotype Guild of New England and now as Co-President of the Printmakers of Cape Cod. Her work has been featured in group and solo shows, exhibited nationally and internationally, and has received several awards. In addition to her NEBA membership, she is also member of the College Art Association, Boston Printmakers, Printmakers of Cape Cod, and Art Synergies, a small group of artists who explore a range of traditional media and computer-created art. She is one of 17 artists featured in Deborah Forman’s book, Abstract Artists on Cape Cod (2015).
Having majored in Painting and Printmaking, the field of book arts was outside her traditional course of study. However, after being exposed to it, creating handmade books became one of her principal interests. Describing this moment, Ringler states that the, … first time I saw an artist book I was conducting a local cable TV interview with the featured artist Sandy Bernat who runs Seastone Papers on Martha’s Vineyard. At the time, Sandy was making marvelous constructions with handmade paper. I was enchanted with her and the artwork she created.
She recalled, Years later, I was able to bring a group of students to Seastone Papers and we all made books using the wet paper pulp, various fibers and natural materials. I was hooked…I fell in love with the intimacy, the tactile quality and the potential for storytelling.
Over time, Ringler cultivated her skills by studying with luminaries in the book arts field including Leslie Dill, whose works incorporate text and paper and respected book binder Barbara Mauriello at Ox Bow, Michigan. In 2008-2009 she went on sabbatical to focus her attention on book arts and paper-making. First, she journeyed to Florence, Italy where she spent weeks as Visiting Artist at the Santa Reparata International School of Art. She worked on printmaking and explored new book art forms. Her stay culminated in an exhibition of the pieces she made during her residency.
From Italy she traveled to Japan where she studied with master paper makers Rogier Uttenmier at the Kamikoya Washi Studio on the island of Kochi as well as with Richard Flavin.
In describing her passion for paper she states, I guess you could say I love paper, making it, holding it, printing on it and making books or structures…On her return to the Cape, the culmination of the work she made during her sabbatical was exhibited in her solo show East Meets West, at Cape Cod Community College’s Higgins Art Gallery.
About the evolution of her process, Ringler explains that, My first books were abstract, primarily focused on nature, textures and design patterns. I then began incorporating various printmaking techniques such as etching, lithography, photography, cyanotype, transfers and digital images into a multitude of structures. Utilizing variation, and sequence, coupled with happenstance, artist’s books provide the perfect mix of control and variation that excites me.
Puzzle Book, 2009
Paper cubes, book cloth over book board, handmade paper, ink paintings
9 ½ x 7 ½ x 2 ¾”
Puzzle Book (2009) was made after Ringler’s return from Japan, when she studied at Ox Bow. In describing what inspired it she explains, I sat outside immersed in the natural beauty of the place and decided this would be my subject for the cubes. I began ink paintings of trees, branches and shadows on beautiful handmade paper. All the cubes are paper constructions. I cut up the ink paintings and glued them on the surfaces of the cubes and then constructed a box container for the puzzle cubes to fit in. I love the possible variations of patterns and designs this can make. The energy and immediacy seen here is a hallmark of much of her work. The vitality of the brushwork and elegance of the black ink on white paper recalls the minimalist Japanese aesthetic to which she is so drawn.
Gingko, 2018
Accordion book, cyanotype, etching, kozo paper, Rives BFK, waxed linen
11 x 9 x ¾”
In Gingko (2018), the artist combines cyanotypes as well as etchings. She explains that the book, was inspired by a love of Gingko trees which dates back to my childhood in Brooklyn, New York. Years later, when she went for a walk around her home on the Cape she, came across yellow Gingko leaves scattered all over the sidewalk. I followed the trail of leaves which led me to a giant tree, perhaps the oldest Gingko on Cape Cod. In one day – in the fall when it is ready – the Gingko drops all its golden leaves forming a golden ring around its trunk. The cover of this book consists of a pure white ground which forms the backdrop for bright, sunny-yellow leaves. There is a lively interaction between their symmetry and their asymmetrical arrangement. The dark, rich blue of the cyan inside – applied in spontaneous, gestural strokes – serves to form a counterpoint in both color and energy to the stillness of the white covers.
We Glide Through Time, 2021
Monotype with Xerox, cloth-covered box
12 cubes – 2 ”
Video Book Tour Here!
In this recently-completed work, We Glide Through Time, (2021), the artist revisits the puzzle book. But here, the restrained palette of black and white gives way to a riot of bright colors and bold text. Describing it as a “free form poem” , this piece is the artist’s tribute to her Aunt Tonia, a poet. It was inspired by the musings of Tonia’s cinquains. Her loose, expressive monotypes and Xeroxes – coupled with loose-association writing and bold text – give visual form to the spirit of her aunt’s writing. The title, We Glide Through Time, was borrowed from one of the lines in Tonia’s poems.
Metamorphoses: Transformation of Elements, 2020
Accordion book, paste papers, ink, copper, collage, waxed line, drawings, handwriting and Xerox
12 ½ x 10 ½ x 1”
Metamorphoses: Transformation of Elements (2019) was also inspired by poetry. But here, Ringler responds not to the writing of a modern author but rather to that of an ancient Roman one, Ovid – specifically to his Metamorphoses which was written in the 1st century C.E. This poem, consisting of 15 books, recounts myths that deal with transformations, beginning with chaos, the separation of the elements, and the earth and sea. The cover is made with paste papers in blacks, fiery oranges, and vibrant yellows creating dynamic movement. The pages combine handwritten lines taken from the Metamorphoses along with experimental brushwork. To Ringler, this poem, two millennia old, has poignant, contemporary relevance as she relates the concept of metamorphosis to the frightening impact climate change is having on our planet.
Woman and Man, 2019
Dos a dos, Rives BFK and kozo paper
See more videos here!
Ringler made Woman and Man (2019) for her husband. She describes it, as a sort of a mix and match, “Exquisite Corpse”, Dada tribute. As in many of her previous pieces, it makes use of black ink applied with joyous, loose brushstrokes. This is a dos a dos consisting of two facing books showing a nude male and female. As one flips through the pages, the poses of the figures quickly change, animating the piece. The single cover they share brings them together, enveloping and permanently uniting them in this lovely, intimate work.
Jack and Francis: Of War and Wedding, 2019
Dos a dos, fabric with magnetic clasp closure, hand colored Xerox transfers, vellum, family photographs, rice paper hinges, toned paper and envelopes
8 ¾ x 6 ½”, open 8 ¾ X 26”
Video Book Tour Here!
Another dos a dos, Jack and Francis: Of War and Wedding (2019) shows the artist’s penchant for using a variety of materials, in this instance, hand-colored Xerox transfers, vellum, family photographs, toned paper, and envelopes. She recounts, After the death of my cousin Jack, I received a box of photographs. It was filled with family most of whom I did not know. I put it away until a few summers ago when I started sorting through it. The photographs chronicled Jack’s years in the army during the liberation and then his wedding. The book is divided into two sections threading together these events. Inside this absorbing, interactive book, original family photographs are stored in small envelopes ready to be seen by the curious viewer.
Goodbye 2020: A Calendar of Uncertainty, 2021
Pleated, folded structure, monotype, Xerox, waxed linen, roll of paper towels
12 X 10”, expands to 23″, creates a 24’ circle
We conclude this feature post with one last work, Goodbye 2020: A Calendar of Uncertainty (2021), in which the artist expresses her feelings about last year – unquestionably, one of the most difficult ones in our nation’s history. The U.S. alone lost hundreds of thousands of people due to the rampant spread of Covid19. This ongoing disaster and the attendant, political extremism and social upheaval, led her to bid farewell to this terrible year. The structure – a pleated, folded one – incorporates monotype, Xerox and waxed linen. It also includes a roll of paper towels (not pictured here). She describes it as, The months of 2020 combined with the phrases we repeated form an upside-down calendar of uncertainty. Jumping through hoops, screaming in the void, the weight of time hanging heavy. These disparate words and images on pages marked by different colors, express the chaos of these remarkable times, which one hopes, will come to an end in the very near future.
Sara Ringler has been a loyal member of our organization since its beginning. She has sung NEBA’s praises throughout the Cape and notes, I am so impressed with the variety and quality of all my fellow Book Artists. NEBA was waiting to happen, so many gifted people with so much to share…it will be making a big mark! I can envision a big book arts conference, exhibitions and collaborative books! How important this group is at such an isolating time…Thank you, it is really great to be a part of NEBA!
Thank you, Sara, for your contributions to the book arts. You have been an inspiration to your students and to fellow artists alike who have benefited from your generosity of spirit and your artistic inventiveness. NEBA congratulates you and pays tribute to your lifetime of work!