Liminality features prints and artist books that mark the space between having departed but not yet arrived by Valerie Carrigan, an artist and educator living in North Adams, Massachusetts.

Valerie has been awarded the 2013 Northern Berkshire Cultural Council Individual Artist Grant, which has supported the new body of work seen in this exhibition. Examples of her work can be found in numerous collections, including the Denver Penrose Library, Smith College Book Arts Collection and the University of Vermont Book Arts Collection.

Thoughts about Liminality by the artist:

My art is about paying attention. It is about the observation of one’s immediate surroundings, the seeing that occurs within the self, and the places these two intersect. It is about holding on to a sense of wonder in the world and staying present long enough to hear the message or see the messenger. It is in how we pay attention that determines what will be revealed to us about our own lives or the lives of others.

The idea of paying attention also merges with the concept of liminality in my work. Liminality is an intermediate state, phase, or condition. The latin origin of the word is Limen, meaning a threshold. “Crossing the threshold” is a phrase that holds many meanings, but most often refers to taking a significant step forward and into a new phase, perhaps having overcome some obstacle along the way; and now entering into the final stage of something with new clarity. When we are at the midpoint of a transition, or crossing the threshold into a new experience, we are in a luminal state. Through a variety of printmaking methods and artist books, my new work marks these moments.

You can view more of Carrigan’s work here.