Untitled (Sugar Honey Maid Graham Crackers Book)

Born in rural Idaho, James Castle was a self-taught artist who lived with family members throughout his life. Though isolated from the art world, he produced over 20, 000 unique works of art—drawings, collages, handmade books, and constructions—made from found materials and improvised media. Profoundly deaf from birth, Castle did not speak and never learned to sign, red lips, or write. His remarkable artistic achievements are now recognized internationally. Consisting of more than 100 individual hand-drawn images on 16 sheets of found paper, this untitled and undated artist’s book is a distinctive blend of material originality and expressive content. Using stove soot and saliva to form an ink, Castle produced the various drawings in the book as part of a cohesive compositional whole made up of two broad subject categories: portrait heads and calendars. Each page of drawings operates as part of an intentional sequential arrangement that is part of the book’s structure and meaning. It is an unveiling through time. The meaning and origin of the various images remains largely undeciphered. Castle relied on multiple sources for his imagery, including books, magazines, commercial packaging, as well as his own imagination and memories. The result is a delightfully engaging work of art that demonstrates Castle’s sophisticated artistic abilities while revealing his persistent inner need for personal expression.