Boy Crazy • Elizabeth Clark Libert

“The experience of making this work has granted catharsis, self-forgiveness, awareness, and ultimately the seeds of a fledgling confidence as a mother, female, and artist. It is my hope that it can help others with the same.” —Elizabeth Clark Libert

Swiss binding, 7.5 x 11.25 inches, 120 pages

Boy Crazy, is an invitation to walk alongside a piece of Elizabeth's journey as she examines the effects of past traumas. Our experiences and subsequent memories don’t disappear; they all combine to create our story. Perspectives may shift over time, layers of life may contribute to different contexts, but the events themselves can’t be undone. With trauma, these pieces of our story can get stuck, and, as a result, our mental health can be challenged. 

The book consists of three parts, the middle contains color photographs of Elizabeth's two young sons interacting with daily life, independently and together, against the backdrop of an Eden-like landscape. The first and third parts of the book are textual along with self-portraits and include conversations between Libert and her sons, excerpts from communication between herself and her perpetrator, discussions and discoveries with her mother, and her own introspective narrative of then, now, and in between.