2021
Letterpress printing (relief, photopolymer, and pressure-printing)
10.25” x 6.75” x 1”
Gay and Lesbian Studies is a smutty, indulgent, letterpress-printed escape into lesbian cinephile culture housed in a millimeter binding. In the central text, an unnamed instructor of creative writing explores the tension between her fetish for the coded eroticism of the lesbian film canon and her out and proud existence. In the margins, we become privy to the narrator’s references and how representations of lesbianism in art guide her interpretations of the world around her and fold-out imagery reveals the eroticism of her inner thoughts.
Gay and Lesbian Studies was developed as a collaboration between author Sophie Strohmeier and Two Trick Pony Press & Bindery. The letterpress-printed cover paper hides a lesbian liaison in a traditional pattern, while bits of lime goatskin peek out at head and tail, capturing the central tension of the text within: the allure of secretive sexuality vs. a fully out existence enabled by the burgeoning acceptance of LGBTQIA+ identities.
Sarah Scarr, Tuscaloosa, Alabama