Dear Clay,
The artist Stephanie Baechler (b. 1983) comes from the world of fashion design, creating objects and installations from clay and textiles. In this monograph she presents a resolute way of presenting her works, in that she only documents the working processes involved. One of the principal components of the book are facsimile pages from Baechler’s sketchbooks, some of them with visible side margins. They are combined with photographs of individual stages in the works’ production arranged in irregular groups and at times placed at a slight angle on the page. The drawings and photographs interact effectively, giving rise to a consistent, seemingly organic publication that offers useful insight into how the artist works. The three different papers and slightly rough softcover also combine into a harmonious whole. Despite conspicuous details such as inserted ribbon bookmarks and drawings and signatures on the folded-in cover flaps, the design does not come across as pretentious. Two texts by the artist and two by external authors, placed on the insides of the cover and on loose sheets packed in an inserted cutting-pattern envelope respectively, elucidate the artist’s programme and practice in the form of letters written to elements and materials such as ‘Dear Silhouette’ and ‘Dear Clay’.
