Chlepa Codex is a project of an artist duo called Chlepa that consists of me and Klementyna Epa.
It's a set of nine artists’ books in the form of boxes containing prints and illustrations telling a story about the synergy of two people working together, finding their space and their very own visual language. Illustrated stories, although half-abstract and purely visual, are consistent narratives. They bring up motifs of teamwork,
a sense of looking for own space, migration and transformation.
a sense of looking for own space, migration and transformation.
This project is inspired both by relics of history such as mysterious manuscripts that were never deciphered (Voynich Manuscript, Rohonc Codex) and the traditions of an experimental approach to the idea of a language that was characteristic of surrealists and artistic avant-garde. We rejected the informative role of writing and tend to communicate our narrative with symbolic iconography.
The project consists of nine handmade boxes. 3 boxes contain my relief and intaglio prints, another 3 are filled with Klementyna's digitally printed illustrations and folded into leporellos, and the last 3 contain juxtaposed works of us both in the form of intaglio prints.
The form of the boxes with small windows to peek through resembles reliquary containers – another detail inspired by the aesthetics of old manuscripts and relics. The boxes’ colour scheme – pink and blue intertwining also symbolizes us both as artists working together.
Three boxes with illustrative stories by Klementyna Epa:
Boxes filled with my prints:
Boxes in form of dyptychs with mine and Klementyna's intaglio prints:
Prints that were included in my boxes:
Photos below were taken by Diana-Elena Păun at URBAN NATION Project Space, Bülowstraße 97 in Berlin where our project was exhibited between October 28, 2023 and March 31, 2024.
Chlepa Codex was created during Fresh A.I.R. artist-in-residence program, to learn more, click here.
