Cinderella Ever After. - 2013

Brooklyn, New York:: Miriam Schaer,, 2013.. Edition of 9. 3.75 x 7.25 x 2"; 56 pages. Digitally printed in Snell Roundhand with an Epson 2200 color printer on 90 lb Whatman Rag paper. Endpapers created on hand-made paper by Melissa Potter and Miriam Schaer. Handbound in shaped drum leaf binding with hyper-packed decorative cord. In cloth-covered clamshell box. Signed by Florio and Schaer. Numbered. Artists' Statement: "Miriam Schaer teams up again with Mary Florio (The Posture Queen) to create Cinderella Ever After, a revisionist version of the oft-told tale. Housed in highly decorated heart-shaped covers and digitally printed interior pages featuring collages based on Schaer's suburban childhood - a world of idealized women and perfect homes. The images do not illustrate the text, but serve as counterpoint for the imagery in the poem. "The book is covered by wrapped cords, resembling arteries that crawl over the laser-cut, heart-shaped covers. The densely packed cords twist and turn in and out of the covers in a manner both embracing and strangling, an effect that could have only been produced by Schaer's intensive handwork. The shaped drum leaf binding allows the story to flow from page to page. "The shape of the book refers back to medieval codex structures, in which heart shaped books were often used for prayer, and to reflect a love of god. Cinderella Ever After contains a different sort of prayer by a narrator who urges Cinderella to flee from her prescribed path, and to change into 'someone you can recognize.' Florio's text contrasts the myth of happy ever after against the reality of finding one's self.