Ruth Laxson

This month’s Artifact of the Month is an artist book from 1985 made by Ruth Laxson (2021.10.010). Laxson’s book is folded like an accordion and is comprised of six panels on an off-white paper with a neatly torn edge. The subject of these panels is a landscape of yellow, blue, purple, pink, and green scribbles and torn, adhered paper from which red strings sprout. In the upper third of the middle panels, flying blue and red hummingbirds have been stamped. One of the hummingbirds has a speech bubble asking, “Landscape?” There are also embossed symbols associated with mathematical equations on the bottom with numbers and jottings in black ink on the top. The cover, which is also the exterior side of the first panel, has ten neatly-cut, round holes that are aligned diagonally. When the book is folded, hints of the colors and doodles on the second panel are visible. On the back panel, Laxson signed her name and the year.  

Ruth Laxson was born in Roanoke, Alabama in 1924 and moved to Atlanta in the 1950s to attend art school. Laxson’s art took many forms as she explored the techniques of printmaking, sculpting, painting, and bookmaking. Her garden itself is also considered a work of art. Laxson’s work is classified as postwar and contemporary art, inspired by surrealism and the desire to push beyond ordinary definitions of words and images. The main theme of her art, which included artist books beginning in the 1980s, was communication. Laxson sought to reinterpret traditional systems of communication and explore symbology related to math and science from the perspective of creativity rather than analysis. The embossing of variables and numerical processes tangibly expresses this interest. Laxson passed away in Atlanta in June of 2019.