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Valerie Huhn
Fingerprint Book Sculpture: 'Between the World and Me" by Ta-Neshisi Coates

2025

$1,200
£899.09
€1,048
CA$1,689.02
A$1,719.25
CHF 978.63
MX$20,752.61
NOK 11,411.36
SEK 11,548.95
DKK 7,834.42

About the Item

Material: Ink, Acetate, Pins, Repurposed Banned Book Coates details the weight of being perfect as a marginalized American—always prepared and without the privilege to make mistakes while acknowledging that his son is human and will make mistakes.  “When I was sixteen I was in a serious car accident that left me with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). As a result, I spent years in psychiatric hospitals before the condition was partially diagnosed. Final diagnosis came in late 2024—along with a new medication that addressed the area of my brain that was injured. Before the TBI, reading was a passion—worlds opened up for me when I read. For decades after it, I was unable to read large volumes or stay focused on a novel.  On my new medication, my ability and joy in reading was back. The experience made me think about the history of reading, writing, and acquiring knowledge—who was allowed to and who wasn’t. I had felt the loss of concentration and reading so keenly. I couldn’t imagine race, ethnicity or gender being reasons to be barred from those worlds.  In 2023, I was preparing for a show when I heard on National Public Radio that, in response to protests on its campus, Rutgers University had banned Susan Abulhawa’s novel, Against a Loveless World. I purchased the book and was immediately struck by the beauty of its words. It was shocking to me that ideas—novels—would be banned. And it was a growing trend throughout the U.S.  I started researching banned books and learned that, in 2023, most of the challenges to books in over 100 school districts were made by just 11 people. Many of the challenges were against Black, Asian, Indigenous, Latino, LGBTQIA+, and women authors. These are the authors I chose to center for this exhibit. The selection also aligned with the authors I started reading upon moving to NYC in 1985. All of the books in this show have been banned, save Things Fall Apart by Pema Chodrin. Percival Everett’s James may not have been banned yet, but is sure to be soon. Before this show, I celebrated marginalized people and cultures by adding colorful fingerprinted pins into texts written by white men for white audiences. For this show, I have adorned books written by authors from these varied communities to highlight the beauty of our shared identity. I selected  page spreads to fingerprint-pin with care. I wanted to highlight the humanity of each character, even the ones difficult to love. And I wanted each adorned page to include a shared interaction—the sum of who we can be together. For books written by European or American male authors, I often pinned the words. For books by marginalized people, I pinned the white space between words and sentences.”- Valerie Huhn
  • Creator:
    Valerie Huhn (American)
  • Creation Year:
    2025
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)Width: 7.5 in (19.05 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
    Mixed Media
  • Movement & Style:
    Contemporary
  • Period:
    2010-
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU422316988822

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