Forbidden Pages: Barcode of Censorship (Pecola)

This unique letterpress and linoleum print, part of the Forbidden Pages Collection, is a layered tribute to Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and a searing critique of its repeated censorship. A barcode motif—evoking commodification, surveillance, and control—spans the page in rhythmic vertical lines of blue ink, interrupted by fragments of text and numerical codes.

The name “Pecola,” the novel’s protagonist, appears diagonally near the top, tinted in soft red and overlaid with a partial ISBN number, as if half-erased or hidden. Further down, “1993,” “NOBEL PRIZE,” and “in literature” are arranged in bold, overlapping type—reminding viewers of Morrison’s global literary recognition, even as her work is silenced locally. A bright red arrow points upward from the base of the print, subtly urging resistance and the reclaiming of voice.

Two full ISBN numbers at the bottom correspond to banned editions of The Bluest Eye, grounding this abstraction in real-world suppression. Through the repetition of coded language, visual distortion, and symbolic typography, Barcode of Censorship (Pecola) transforms erasure into visual memory, asking: what does it mean to silence a story that was never meant to be ignored?