Interluceo

"The grand book of the universe…was written in the language of mathematics, and its characters
are triangles, circles, and other geometric figures..."

Hiebert, Helen. Interluceo. Papercut Illustrations by Beatrice Coron. Watermarks by Helen Hiebert. Red Cliff, CO: Helen Hiebert Studio, 2015.

Artist's book, one of 25 copies, each signed by the designer / papermaker, Helen Hiebert and dated on the titlepage, all on her own handmade papers, 75% cotton / 25% abaca blend paper to showcase watermarks; pigmented abaca pulp to create the rainbow spectrum of translucent papers.
Page size: 9-3/16 x 9-3/16 inches: 72pp; including colophon and endsheets.
Bound by Claudia Cohen: hand-sewn exposed spine, grey paper wrappers printed with title and geometric shapes in darker grey on front panel, housed in custom-made plum silk over boards with title printed blind on grey paper laid onto spine.
Illustrated with 7 hand-cut paper illustrations (translucent abaca paper in hues of rainbow) portray the mysteries of life: a baby in the womb, a couple, a child, a child gaining strength and running to embrace life, the building of a home (the pentagonal shape), exploring the world and, finally, spiritual contemplation. The seven white handmade papers feature seven intricate geometric watermarks which relate to the numbers one through seven and their corresponding shapes: point, line, triangle, square, pentagon, hexagon, septagon. While the numbers 1-7 have many meanings - days of the week, notes in musical scale, colors of rainbow - the 7 geometric shapes here progress from a point (the circle) to a seven-sided form. If this sequence were to continue ad infinitum, the resulting multi-sided figure with an infinite number of sides would approach the shape of a circle again (either the beginning or the end). The text was printed letterpress in Dante by Tom Leech, Palace of the Governors Press, Santa Fe, NM from polymer plates made by Boxcar Press. The designer / papermaker,
Helen Hiebert, has contributed a page of "Reflections" which is an artist's statement in which she discusses this book. Interluceo is defined as to shine or gleam between, to be transparent, to light or light through gaps. The luminosity of abaca (banana plant fiber) is cited as an inspiration to create the colored papers of INTERLUCEO. Ms. Hiebert discusses watermarks - noting that hers are created not from wire in the papermaking mould but rather a thin rubber material. They are beautiful and the perfect subtle foil to the obvious brilliance of the cut-outs. From the cut-out and collaged seven-sided form on the titlepage to the diamond-shaped text of colophon, all in this book is simple and simply elegant. Looking at the edges of the book reveals the rainbow inside and urges the reader / viewer to enter into the mystery of light and color exhibited in these beautiful pages. The ultimate reward is the turning of each page as the story unfolds through forms as well as color and light. Abstract enough for the reader to enter his own story, but concrete enough to be visual poetry, this is a wonderful book.