Bonsack Gallery: Friday, 9 January 2015

"The Power of Words," cut paper monoprint, 22.5 X 30.25 inches, 2013

The Bonsack Gallery at John Burroughs School will feature works by printmaker Bunny Burson
from January 9 through February 11. All are invited to an opening reception from 5:30 to 7:30
pm, Friday, January 9.

This body of work is based on a collection of letters recently discovered in the attic of Burson’s
family home. Her grandparents wrote the letters to her mother from 1939 to 1941, as they tried to
escape first from Germany and then Latvia after sending their children to America.

Burson says, “I have uncovered and recovered a lost generation, whose ruptured lives are linked
to mine.” In these works, Burson exposes the layers of the print to discover what is not evident
on the surface, and she incorporates icons (keyholes, shoes, chessboards and maps) to provide
insight into her family’s story. “Perhaps the most important discovery was the life and beauty in
the writing itself. In repeatedly drawing and printing their lines of script, my hand became one
with theirs. Their handwriting became my art.”

“Hopefully these works transcend my own journey,” Burson continues. “Through the visual
processing of my grandparents’ letters, I seek to move from the personal to the universal and to
stir the desire we all have to discover who we are through those who came before us.”

Regular gallery hours are 8 am to 5 pm, weekdays.

The Bonsack Gallery on the campus of John Burrough sSchool
755 South Price Road
Ladue. Missouri 63124
314-993-4040