The book Traverse by Louis Levergneux documents her seven-day journey across the country from South Jordan, Utah to Gatineau, Quebec, in East-Central Canada. She photographs whatever catches her eye, from the climate, the topography, to the state welcome signs through the car window. She decided to use Hedi Kyle’s pivoting panel structure to give the reader her point of view while sitting in the passenger seat on the long journey. The text below the images plays on the state slogans and nicknames, for example, under Missouri it says “Across the wide Missouri, we start out northeastern ascent where the great rivers meander. After three days of rain the clouds start rolling out, ‘show-me the sun!’”
Levergneux is an artist who appreciates the simple moments that characterize our lives and build our history, whether sensational or monotonous. She focuses on using autobiographical references in her work by collecting and storing her memories, self-identity, and her environment. She won’t publish something until she is satisfied that her conceptual framework is viewable as a physical book. Her goal is to create limited edition, self-published books that represent the world in a unique, creative, and dynamic way for the reader to experience. She’s also created flipbooks, such as Obsession which documents the obsession with a daily routine, if you’ve ever owned a dog, you’ll have an instant connection with this one.
If you’d like to see Traverse by Louis Levergneux in person you can always come to visit us in Special Collections, located on the 5th floor of McFarlin Library, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am until 4:30 pm. If you’re a fan of artist books or want to learn more about them, our current exhibit, Artist’s Books: Challenging Norms & Forms showcases 24 unique artist’s books from our collection, including more work by Levergneux. The exhibition runs until March 22, 2019.