Published in 1998
144 pages
Sonja Ahlers is a self-taught visual artist and writer. Her work is a blend of the artist book and zine, a pioneer of what could be called the highbrow zine, a writing style pertinent to the West Coast underground. She shows visual work regularly, running the gamut of public spaces. Her work is also published in magazines and anthologies.
What is this book about?
Temper, Temper is the first book from this Victoria, B.C. based artist. Simultaneously reminiscent of the work of Jenny Holzer, Roberta Gregory and Emily Dickinson (with a little Andy Warhol thrown in for good measure). Ahlers combines original pen and ink drawings with text and collaged artifacts to reconfigure genre and tell the story of one young woman’s search for a life that pushes the envelope of the visceral. In doing so she discovers a way to trigger the emotions and memories which revolutionize both the world and her notion of herself. “I am always game for anarchy”, Ahlers writes, “I want to find that perfect balance between expression and connections I want to crawl into someone else’s head and see what they sees I want to be the selfless narcissist. I want this book to beS essentially, my life”.
