Salami Dreamin’ is a limited edition artist book by Michelle Maguire about her colorful Italian American Great-Aunt Doll, featuring anecdotes by Aaron Beck . All images are hand printed by McGuire via lithography and silkscreen processes.
Maguire describes her aunt, “Aunt Doll, age 84, has lived in Canton, Ohio, her entire life. She curses, loves cured meats, knows more about the NFL than you do, plays strip mall slot machines with her vegetarian hairdresser of 42 years, isn’t trying to be funny but is, worships the sun from her concrete-slab patio, and frets about nothing except her beloved Italian bread packing on the pounds.” Maguire creates this personality with beautiful, graphic interpretation of her photographs. The pop of flat color engulfing Aunt Doll in each image commends her blunt and aggressively carefree nature, which in combination with Beck’s text makes this tribute to Aunt Doll almost as rich as spending a day in her presence.
An excerpt from the book:
"From late morning through early afternoon on any given summer day, Aunt Doll is on her back patio in a cushioned glider. The letters SPF mean about as much to Doll as the Russian alphabet. If her skin is showing, it’s getting bronzer by the minute. All she needs is a blazing-hot afternoon, a terry cloth romper, her 32-ounce sipper of Crystal Light, and a Danielle [“Duh-NELL”] Steele novel. Shit, I’ll see ya. I ain’t goin’ anywhere today, babe. The sun’s out, and my ass is stayin’ right here. This is it.” The birds roosting on the telephone lines chirp out in the still, humid air of the treeless yard. A weedeater whirls away somewhere down the street. “You know one of these days I’m gonna shove that camera up your ass, Michelle. Hand me the newspaper, babe.”’
The two artist are married and living in Columbus, OH. Maguire works as a photographer, graphic design, librarian, and book maker, while Beck works as a creative copywriter, reporter, and researcher. Aunt Doll prints and Salami Dreamin’ are available here.
All images are hand printed by Maguire and Floodwall Press via lithography and silkscreen processes.
- Molly Jacobs
