projects > Translation

A “translation,” entirely in the form of drawings, of the first chapter of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. Translation consists of 28 individual drawings of photocopies of sequential pages from the first chapter of the novel, pieced together from every existing English translation. This patchwork results in the repetition and omission of text from page to page, resolving into an incomplete and not-fully-readable rendition of the original.

Molly Springfield Translation Proust
Installation at Thomas Robertello Gallery, Chicago.
2009
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
June 15, 2006
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
June 24, 2006
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
July 12, 2006
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
October 20, 2007
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
October 20, 2007
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
January 10, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
January 18, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
January 30, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
February 06, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
February 19, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
March 04, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
March 21, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
April 04, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
April 08, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
April 19, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
April 16, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
April 21, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
May 21, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
June 04, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
June 17, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
June 24, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
July 03, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
July 16, 2008
graphite drawing book photocopy by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
11 x 17 inches
July 28, 2008
graphite drawing Translation by Molly Springfield Proust
Installation at Thomas Robertello Gallery, Chicago.
2009
graphite drawing Translation by Molly Springfield Proust
Installation at Thomas Robertello Gallery, Chicago.
2009
graphite drawing cork photocopies Translation by Molly Springfield
cork, graphite on paper, graphite and colored pencil on paper, photocopies, push pins and other ephemera
Installation at Thomas Robertello Gallery.
2009
graphite drawing cork photocopies Translation by Molly Springfield
cork, graphite on paper, graphite and colored pencil on paper, photocopies, push pins and other ephemera
Installation at Thomas Robertello Gallery.
2009
graphite drawing cork photocopies Translation by Molly Springfield
cork, graphite on paper, graphite and colored pencil on paper, photocopies, push pins and other ephemera; 11 x 12 feet .
Installation for the 2009 Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize Exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
2009
graphite and colored pencil drawing photocopies Translation by Molly Springfield
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
22 x 125 inches
2009
graphite drawing cork photocopies Translation by Molly Springfield
Graphite and colored pencil on paper
22 x 125 inches
2009
graphite drawing photocopies by Molly Springfield
Graphite on paper
17 x 11 inches
2009

Catalogue essay by Claire Brandon for Graphite, The Indianapolis Museum Of Art (2013).
Post by Lisa Pearson on Molly's contribution to the This Is Almost That (Box) (2012).
Excerpt in It Is Almost That: A Collection of Image+Text Work by Women Artists and Writers from Siglio Press (2011).
Review by Candice Weber for Art Talk Chicago, September 6, 2009.
Review by Brett McCabe for the Baltimore City Paper, July 8, 2009.
Review by Johnny Ray Houston, San Francisco Bay Guardian, March 10, 2009.
Review by Kenneth Baker for the San Francisco Chronicle, February 28, 2009.
Watch excerpts from a panel discussion with Proust scholar Joshua Landy and art critic Kriston Capps, held in February 2009.
Dear Molly Proust by Bill Berkson, Big Bridge, Issue 14, 2010.
Essay on the project by Molly Springfield in NY Arts Magazine.

Project exhibition history:

Proust, Williams Collection, Wellesley, MA: December 2018-August 2019
Graphite, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN: December 6, 2012-June 2, 2013
Translation, Thomas Robertello Gallery, Chicago, IL: September-October, 2009 (Selected by Newcity Magazine as one of the top 5 drawing shows of the year.)
The Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD: June-August, 2009
Translation, Steven Wolf Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA: February-March, 2009 (Nominated for an AICA Award for "Best Show in a Commercial Gallery Nationally.")