Kim Campisano   
Artist & Educator

Speaking Volumes are oracular utterances, quotations, and in some cases, pronouncements about women aging. I concentrate my camera and my mouth on articulating one syllable - or parts of a vocalization - at a time. The mouths are often assembled in a vertical cascade and printed as scrolls, each a complete phrase. Sometimes, single words represent concepts supported and surrounded by printed text. Through this process, I explore the attenuation of language and construction of meaning, as well as how ideas (and our own self-image) can change and evolve over time.

I call upon the legends of the ancient Sibyls and Oracles of the Mediterranean, those female truthspeakers whom the Greek and Roman leaders consulted during times of crises and momentous episodes. Only fragments survived the collapse of empires. Yet theses sibyls and oracles, whose utterances written on scrolls or leaves representing the destinies of modest visitors and emperors alike, could not be silenced forever. They were a bridge between the living and the dead, portals through which the gods spoke directly to people.