Book 39  Betrayal Penn, C. (2009) (Fig. 38).  Betrayal. Unique artist’s book. Book made from paper pulp sheets. 20 page book with  complex pamphlet stitch binding.  Mixed media including oil paint, charcoal, and pencil. 80cm x 59cm x 4cm. Collection: Cheryl Penn

Betrayal was made after watching the film Asylum.  The movie deals with a doctor and his family who move to a mental asylum where he has received a permanent post as resident doctor.  At the institution, the doctor’s  wife is often left neglected and on her own.  On one of her walks in the grounds, she meets a male inmate who appears very normal.  There is instant sexual attraction. The reality was that he had murdered his wife in a fit of jealousy.  The two become involved and in the process she betrays her husband, her son and herself.

The two become involved and in the process she betrays her husband, her son and herself.  The real villain is another  character, the  psychiatrist, who is studying  the behavior of everyone involved and who in the end betrays his patient,  the doctor and his family. The story concludes with the wife committing suicide.   The intensity of the narrative brought me to view betrayal as a physical entity, unseen, there from the moment the family began their journey to their new home.

I used the image of a bound pig as representative of betrayal,   My book is the story of the character Betrayal and how he always wins.  The  other characters contribute to the development of his nature and his ultimate victory. This is a large topic, hence the big book.  It is also made from paper pulp pages.  This unfinished paper represents the ever-evolving process of betrayal.  It and its effects are never finished.