I've had these work gloves sitting on my bench for a couple months now, waiting for me to make magic with them. Finally, I realized I wanted to use them to point out how much work in this world is done by women. According to a Report by Richard H. Robbins, called "Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism," women do two-thirds of the world's work, receive 10 percent of the world's income and own one percent of the means of production. I had a theme.
The book is an accordion fold/concertina fold book with 16 images of women working. From Rosie the Riveter, to seamtresses in a 19th-century sweat shop, from African women carrying baskets to soldiers, cops and crossing guards, Oprah Winfrey to Judy Garland, a Muslim Wal-Mart clerk to a doctor, PBX operators to Hilary Clinton, these women are the workers of the world.
To make the structure, I painted the insides of the gloves with several coats of acrylic medium to stiffen them and keep the fingers together. I left the thumbs unpainted for flexibility. I folded a long strip of Arches Text Wove paper into accordion sections and glued the printed photos to the pages. Then I glued the first and last pages to the palms of the gloves, under the thumbs.
I stitched the gloves together at two points with a chain stitch cord in two colors of cotton thread to match the color of the gloves.
OK, so I think this book is pretty damn cool.
