PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE FROM GALLERY
The Book as Art v5.0: Illuminated Presented by the Decatur Arts Alliance, Georgia Center for the Book, DeKalb Library Foundation, and the Decatur Library August 11–September 29, 2017 The Book as Art v5.0: Illuminated is the fifth edition of the artists’ book exhibition inaugurated by the Decatur Arts Alliance in 2013. The exhibition is juried from entries arriving from all over the world, and includes artists ranging in experience from students to recognized professionals in the medium. The Book as Art v5.0 is proud to include examples of the finest in the field, from artists in twenty states. The book as a physical object in an increasingly digital world remains stubbornly analog. Those with narrative content offer the frustrations of sequential visuals – the viewer longs to see more than one segment at a time, but the format allows only a gradual reveal. Sculptural objects interpreting the concept of the book also require more than a glance to draw the viewer into a deeper understanding of what books are and can be. Both narrative and sculptural interpretations are included in this exhibition for your viewing and interpretive pleasure. Jurors are Anne Beidler, Decatur, GA; Daniel Essig, Asheville, NC; and John Risseuw, Tempe, AZ. Special events: Opening Reception, August 25, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. White Glove Nights, September 7 and 14, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. We're putting away the "do not touch" signs. Volunteers will provide participants with white gloves allowing firsthand exploration of the books in the exhibition. Organizing Committee Angie Macon, Executive Director, Decatur Arts Alliance Joe Davich, Director, Georgia Center for the Book Gina Reynoso, Coordinator, White Glove Nights Dot Moye, Coordinator, The Book as Art Lockey McDonald, Registrar Cynthia Lollis, Alex Cadle Bell, Nancy Snell, and Charlotte Pfieffer
Ayako Abe-Miller, Greenville, SC
Digesting Your Words and Phrases Selected pages from books, wood cubes, hog casing I am interested in the escalating transformative power generated by collecting many small, similar fragments together—like cells in an organism, droplets of water in a heavy storm, individuals in a society. Like those collections of fragments, a gathering of letters and words can have great transformative power. My sculpture is focused on expressing that transformative power, showing how the accumulated letters, words and phrases are embodied with an incarnate power even without focusing on or understanding the meaning or language of the text. My sculptures consist of various sized cubes covered with letters and text from different language books. As presented, the meaning of the original books is lost, but the collection of a tremendous amount of letters, words and text together evokes the transformative power of the collective— like building blocks. Photography: Ayako Abe-Miller
Lisa Brody, South Kent, CT
Three Connecticut Gardens Three accordion books in clamshell box, watercolor The framework for my imagery is my relationship to outdoor spaces using the narrative of moving through an expanse in a panorama format. Using Japanese style accordion folded books I have been documenting parks and gardens. I draw in situ; the intensity of drawing connects me to the natural world in a visceral way. I like the unexpected quality of going for a walk and not knowing where it will take me, to be immersed in the environment, cut off from all technology and its sound. I seek to move slowly as my gaze is free to observe. Drawing is the most personal and intimate way to connect to the sounds, colors, wind, weather, birds, insects, trees, flowers, water and sky with ultimate power and grace. The folding books allow me to mimic the panorama of movement and architecture of the walk. I draw in the book free to change scale and perspective following the over all manner of looking that the normal gaze encompasses—up, down, high, low, close and far. Photography credit: Lisa Brody
Savannah Carlin, Warwick, RI
Untitled Silkscreen on silk My work seeks answers and attempts to understand my body’s relationship to the world, faith, devotion and religion. Highly influenced by my Irish Catholic and Southern Baptist roots, I grasp for understanding of myself as an artist while grappling with faith in religion—perceiving the devout’s connection to God as metaphor for my dependence on my artistic practice. I use repetitive processes such as printmaking to create a meditative element to my art making practice. I make objects that call upon iconography from the tradition of Abrahamic religious art through my use of symbols. I am heavily influenced by my recent six-month stay in Rome, Italy. During my time there, I became inspired by the architecture, textiles, patterns and baroque sculptures as well as the patina of the city. This is directly visible through the imagery and materiality I choose for my work. Photography credit: Savannah Carlin
Rebecca Chamlee, Simi Valley, CA
At Low Water Letterpress printed, hand-bound book Edition of 65 As a self-taught naturalist, I have my work examine the intersection of my artistic and scientific interests by collecting and cataloging the natural world. I am inspired to record, interpret and celebrate nature. My artist's book, At Low Water, looks back to the beginnings of my passion for exploration and observation of native species to a time when I collected sea animals gathered at low tide to bring home and live in an aquarium in my girlhood bedroom. The main text recalls the story of filling the tank with sea creatures and the life-and-death drama that took place among the captive inhabitants. A poem, told from the viewpoint of the child in the moment of discovery, runs through the book on translucent leaves that overlay close-up images of the intertidal habitat. Field notes contain data from the year spent in the tide pools of Southern California researching and collecting images for the 14 detailed plates of marine specimens and twelve habitat images found throughout the book. Photography credit: Rebecca Chamlee
Jan Dove, Port Angeles, WA
Wave Pigment print on Japanese paper, binder's board and binder's cloth; accordion fold construction Edition of 15 I love stories and making stuff with my hands. As an art student I found that the narrative in visual art was frowned upon, mostly by modernist teachers who hadn’t a clue that Art was changing her clothes behind the screen. Today, I find satisfaction in combining new technologies with the old to create visual narratives. And since as a printmaker I have become increasingly dissatisfied with the rectangle, my stories often find resolution in the form of sculptural and interactive artist books. Often I take my laptop with an electronic drawing tablet into the figuredrawing studio. Because imaging software can place parts of drawings on transparent layers, it is possible to combine drawings with photos and find new relationships that are not possible any other way. But that lady, Art, behind the screen will not be limited by technique. For me, she flows from the beauty of the planet I live on, the humanity I live with, and my fears about what will be left. Photography credit: Chris Bold
Mari Eckstein Gower, Redmond, WA
Holding Up the Roof Modified flag book with cutouts and palm leaf book Edition of 25 Holding Up the Roof examines two different ways of looking at architecture. The first is the grand art historical viewpoint, dividing architectural developments through the ages into distinct style characteristics. The second viewpoint questions why, until recently, only grand buildings seem to define architecture. The homes of the common people are noticeably absent. The way the homeless existed is even more invisible. By using the absent places as a format to show quotes about homelessness, I hope to engage the viewers with questions about what are the true meanings of the buildings we construct and how those missing pieces fit into the picture. Photography credit: Mari Eckstein Gower
Leslie Eliet , Gloucester, MA
Walking (Ink) Meditation, Part XIII: August Bloom Etching with watercolor additions; accordion book Edition of 6 (with variations) Photography credit: Leslie Eliet
Karen Hardy, Asheville, NC
Old True Abaca and flax handmade paper, ink, gouache, acrylic Edition of 4 Old True is inspired by my fascination with the storytelling culture and traditional music of western North Carolina. I studied the lyrics and imagery of old Appalachian ballads, drawing from many different songs to create a general impression of the tone and subject matter they typically contain. There is love, misfortune, betrayal, and violence aplenty in these stories, usually recounted in a hauntingly matter-of-fact way. I focused on certain motifs that enchant me—lilywhite hands, fair maidens courted or done wrong, the oft repeated request to “make up my bed” in preparation to die of grief—and explored them by layering gouache, ink, and pochoir on translucent handmade paper. The paper was made in the Blue Ridge Mountains at Penland School of Crafts, where I sought to capture the colors and forms of the mountains and skies that surrounded me in the pulp itself. Photography credit: Karen Hardy
Karen Hardy, Asheville, NC
Threshold Abaca and flax handmade paper, ink, acrylic, colored pencil, pochoir, burning, cutting, hole punching Edition of 5 Threshold explores states that exist at the boundaries of consciousness, where dream and reality intermingle. Five booklets—sleep paralysis, hypnagogia, fugue, reverie, lucid dream—visually depict these dissociative experiences, in which the mind and body are out of sync, awareness is disjointed, or wakefulness and sleep overlap. Each booklet is created from a single sheet of handmade paper, and unfolds to reveal imagery on the interior. The set is held in the pockets of an accordion book structure with translucent acrylic covers, and includes a sixth booklet containing letterpress-printed definitions of the different liminal states. The paper was made from abaca and flax, overbeaten for translucency, and the imagery was created with ink, gouache, colored pencil, pochoir, burning, cutting, and hole punching. Photography credit: Karen Hardy
Peggy Johnston, Des Moines, IA
Ammonite II Assorted papers, mica, thread, glue My love of paper and fascination with containers made it almost inevitable that I would discover the book arts. Since crafting my first book, I have explored bookmaking as an art as well as a craft. I focus on the book as an art object. I think of myself as a sculptor using bookbinding techniques. The mechanics and engineering involved in book structures fascinate me. Often, I will exaggerate elements of book design in creating these sculptural pieces. I lean toward distinctive materials (old leather, metal, wood, old books) when designing my one-of-a-kind works. The materials I choose add a tactile aspect to the work. I search for just the right materials for some projects, but other times materials at hand suggest a project or design to me. I often say that I am not in control of my art. It controls me. Photography credit: Peggy Johnston
Peggy Johnston, Des Moines, IA
Reticula Curva Walnut-dyed rosin paper, waxed linen thread, copper My love of paper and fascination with containers made it almost inevitable that I would discover the book arts. Since crafting my first book, I have explored bookmaking as an art as well as a craft. I focus on the book as an art object. I think of myself as a sculptor using bookbinding techniques. The mechanics and engineering involved in book structures fascinate me. Often, I will exaggerate elements of book design in creating these sculptural pieces. I lean toward distinctive materials (old leather, metal, wood, old books) when designing my one-of-a-kind works. The materials I choose add a tactile aspect to the work. I search for just the right materials for some projects, but other times materials at hand suggest a project or design to me. I often say that I am not in control of my art. It controls me. Photography credit: Peggy Johnston
Wewer Keohane, Carbondale, CO
Book for the Brokenhearted Mixed media: paper, wood, found objects My work is metaphor. Through the invisible quality of understanding the metaphor, I am intuitively guided to the visual interpretations. My contemplative process begins by using found objects, recycled ephemera, words, color, metals; the metaphor awakens into a story. When I fully understand the metaphor, I move to another, which most often presents itself to me through my dreams, meditation and interactions with others. This is a slow process as I am rarely ready to "art" the metaphors/dreams/visions without processing their meaning in my life, which can take days or decades. This process of art making is my individual and indisputable connection to the divine. Because I am, the work is eclectic by nature. To me, it tells the story of my growth and the evolution of my authenticity—my quest to make the invisible visible. The continuing theme within all this work is balance, or rather finding balance—balance within self, genders, nature, relationships, life, society. Photography credit: Wewer Keohane
Karen Kunc, Avoca, NE
Endless Eternal Elusive Poem by Grace Bauer Woodcut on Nishinouchi & letterpress on handmade paper of cotton/abaca, sewn binding into covered boards of Cave Paper with wood-type title, silk book cloth spine, woodcut printed end sheets. Edition of 15 My prints and books often deal with my own "print" issues—reading and perception questions: how one is aware of subtle printed elements, how one reads on multiple dimensional printed levels, how the eye moves through the works into my designed entrances and exits, where one gets entwined and held, and where a simple ending forms. My visual sense has always been about how I transform my world, what I see and study and the ways I interpret my simple surroundings —from instinct, to forms, to concept, to abiding life issues. The experience of making and thinking is what influences my visual instinct and interconnections, which results in the works themselves. For me, there is a love of materials as I make my book objects—an awareness of paper, ink, proportion, color, relationships, finish, detail, all parts to the whole—with evidence of craftsmanship. I am making an aesthetic object, even a beautiful one, as a carrier of important ideas. Photography credit: Karen Kunc
Karen Kunc, Avoca, NE
LandEscape Woodcut on Nishinouchi & letterpress on handmade paper of cotton/abaca, sewn binding into covered boards of Cave Paper with wood type title, silk book cloth spine, woodcut printed end sheets Edition of 15 My prints and books often deal with my own "print" issues—reading and perception questions: how one is aware of subtle printed elements, how one reads on multiple dimensional printed levels, how the eye moves through the works into my designed entrances and exits, where one gets entwined and held, and where a simple ending forms. My visual sense has always been about how I transform my world, what I see and study and the ways I interpret my simple surroundings —from instinct, to forms, to concept, to abiding life issues. The experience of making and thinking is what influences my visual instinct and interconnections, which results in the works themselves. For me, there is a love of materials as I make my book objects—an awareness of paper, ink, proportion, color, relationships, finish, detail, all parts to the whole—with evidence of craftsmanship. I am making an aesthetic object, even a beautiful one, as a carrier of important ideas. Photography credit: Karen Kunc
Carole Kunstadt, West Hurley, NY
Sacred Poem LXVII 24-karat gold leaf, thread paper: pages from Parish Psalmody dated 1849, 504 knots Through the utilization of both a reductive and additive process, which embraces the inherent qualities of the paper while transforming the book’s pages, the paper itself gains significance through the process and merges with a new intent. Visually there is a consistent and measured cadence to a page of psalms that is echoed in the repetitive weaving or restructuring of the paper: pages are cut in strips and woven creating an altered dense surface. The repetitive action of sewing, knotting, and weaving is similar to reciting, singing, and reading: implying that through the repetition of a task or ritual one has the possibility to transcend the mundane. The use of gold leaf elevates and heightens the rich textural qualities. The interplay alludes to the enticing presentation of illuminated texts historically. Explored and displayed in this visual context, the alteration of the paper’s linear, tactile, and facile nature emphasizes transformation, while the possibility of revelation is playfully realized. Photography credit: Kevin Kunstadt
Eddy Lopez, Lewisburg, PA
Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of US Policy Digital print Edition of 10 Beautiful War is a series of amalgamations of books and photographs that chronicled the experiences of war by various artists, photojournalists, and writers. By layering together the entire contents of each book, the words and visuals in each of the texts become obfuscating abstractions that transform the memories and terrors captured within the pages. Born in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, during the chaos of the Sandinista revolution and raised in the sprawling suburbs of Miami, I am a painter and printmaker whose work clashes the past and present together by running computer algorithms that create heavily layered amalgamations of historical, mythological, political, and religious imagery. In these odd juxtapositions, I explore the intricacies of my contemporary experience as an artist, where, in the age of big data, social networks, Photoshop, and the 24-hour news cycle, the burin, ink, and pixel make the most sense. Photographer credit: Eddy Lopez
Eddy Lopez, Lewisburg, PA
This is War! Robert Capa at Work Digital print Edition of 10 Beautiful War is a series of amalgamations of books and photographs that chronicled the experiences of war by various artists, photojournalists, and writers. By layering together the entire contents of each book, the words and visuals in each of the texts become obfuscating abstractions that transform the memories and terrors captured within the pages. Born in Matagalpa, Nicaragua, during the chaos of the Sandinista revolution and raised in the sprawling suburbs of Miami, I am a painter and printmaker whose work clashes the past and present together by running computer algorithms that create heavily layered amalgamations of historical, mythological, political, and religious imagery. In these odd juxtapositions, I explore the intricacies of my contemporary experience as an artist, where, in the age of big data, social networks, Photoshop, and the 24-hour news cycle, the burin, ink, and pixel make the most sense. Photographer credit: Eddy Lopez
Janet Maher, Baltimore, MD
Still Point Artist's book, 74 hand-colored pages plus title page and end sheet, fabric-covered binders board, acrylic and gesso over collaged printmaking paper, Coptic binding, silken thread Tearing sections and physically obscuring a large stack of what had been sheets of painted paper and text from a previous project, I began the process of making Still Point. I removed most of the original content, leaving words and phrases to serve as elements in what seemed to become a sequence of minimalist collage paintings. The title references T.S. Eliot’s “still point in the turning world”. Creating stillness from materials that had once contained vestiges of emotional memories was a meditation. Reworking, continually resequencing pages until every side contributed to the book’s visual flow, was also a meditation. At least twice the number of prepared pages did not make “the cut” in the many stages of necessary edits. As in the writing of a conventional book, draft after draft, and in the honing the whole to its final essence, the result came about through the process that influenced every choice. The pages and the structure can be experienced in many ways. Photography credit: Janet Maher
Cynthia Marsh, Clarksville, TN
A Heap of Witness Letterpress, silkscreen, handmade paper, collage Edition of 10 A Heap of Witness illustrates how the five books of Abraham (Old Testament) continue to be the primary tool for assessing ancient and contemporary issues of morality in Western culture. The textual and visual information included in the five 12-page signatures are culled from three primary sources: stories from the Old Testament, pages from modern literary classics, and recorded incidents from my 60+ years on this planet. My accounts reside at the core of each signature; they are wrapped with selections from literary classics and the outside leaves of each signature are stories from the Old Testament. Layers of each signature address similar content. The Biblical text is printed on handmade flax paper. The personal narratives are fabricated via silkscreen, pochoir, collotype, and letterpress with polymer plates. These accounts are printed on paper crafted from materials (seaweed, blue jeans etc) that articulate the landscape of each story. This codex references a portable Bible. Photography credit: Cynthia Marsh
Megan Mattax, Richmond, VA
Archaic Inquiry: Serial Dilution Hand bound altered books, thread, ink, epoxy-resin I am interested in knowledge, specifically how information is passed from one generation to the next. I use book-like forms created from discarded dictionaries as metaphor for the conduit of knowledge transference. These structures are shaped and transformed through the powerful and destructive elements of fire, water, and air. Construction and destruction of the pieces emphasize the brevity of their existence in an ever-growing digital world. The amber-like preservation of the forms embodies a new generation’s view of our archaic forms of knowledge that are quickly being diluted into extinction. Photography credit: Megan Mattax
Megan Mattax, Richmond, VA
Inherent Knowledge Hand-bound altered books, thread, ink, baby food jars, metal chain I am interested in knowledge, specifically how information is passed from one generation to the next. I use book-like forms as a metaphor for the conduit in which this knowledge is transferred. Inherent Knowledge is a suspended sculptural work that was created by altering and hand binding book-like forms out of discarded dictionaries. These pieces have been delicately shaped and transformed using fire, water, and air to reflect organic material, such as leaves, petals, and pods. Baby food jars represent an innocent stage of life as well as a new generation’s view of our archaic forms of knowledge. Photography credit: Megan Mattax
Kimberly McCarthy, Asheville, NC
Blue Ridge Hand-bound book With a background in printmaking and an ongoing love for bookmaking and papermaking, I combine my passion for print and book with my interest in the natural world around me in my work. I draw influences from the landscape and local flora and fauna that I encounter on a daily basis. Photography credit: Kimberly McCarthy
Kimberly McCarthy, Asheville, NC
These Things Are Grey Hand-bound book With a background in printmaking and an ongoing love for bookmaking and papermaking, I combine my passion for print and book with my interest in the natural world around me in my work. I draw influences from the landscape and local flora and fauna that I encounter on a daily basis. Photography credit: Kimberly McCarthy
Radha Pandey, Iowa City, IA
Taxonomy of Shapes Letterpress printing on paper Edition of 52 My bookwork draws from book history and ecology and looks at both human engagement with the environment and current ecological concerns. The work I create focuses on my perception of the natural world and its fragility in relation to human existence. Much of what I make, therefore, brings to mind the intentional growth, pattern, and arrangement one might find in nature. Photography credit: Lizz Thabet
Dawn Peterson, Tybee Island, GA
Sconce Altered book, 3D-printed pedestal and glass beads Dawn loves books! Especially creating and transforming the structure of a book. She is interested in combining various materials such as glass beads and unique threads to create textures in each altered book. Her work has been published in 500 Handmade Books, Hand Papermaking, and various magazines. Her work is in numerous public and private collections such as those of college and university libraries as well as those of companies and individuals. She is a professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she teaches design elements and principles to students using book formats and structures. She is a member of the College Book Arts Association. Photography credit: Dawn Peterson
Michael Peven, Fayetteville, AR
Bird’s Bar Mitzvah Archival inkjet prints bound in paperboards in a handmade board slipcase Edition of 33 Bird's Bar Mitzvah is a story about how I came to love jazz music and about my encounters with the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the great jazz musician Thelonious Monk as well as my Confirmation many years later at Charlie Parker’s grave. The front side of the book is stories about my first experiences with jazz music leading up to the time I met Thelonious Monk and then my trip to see Charlie Parker's grave. It's illustrated with images of me morphing into Charlie Parker as a background to the story. There are 2 “ribbons“ of images featuring jazz album covers that are folded into the pages and attached but that can be unfolded in order to see the writing and images underneath. The backside features images from my Bar Mitzvah album with a story on the ribbons about my going to Hebrew school and my preparing for the Bar Mitzvah and images from the party. Photography credit: Michael Peven
Lynn Skordal, Mercer Island, WA
Goode’s School Atlas Unique altered atlas with collage, painting, hand cutting, spray paint, ephemera Lynn Skordal is a retired lawyer who began making artist's books and small works on paper in 2008. Old-style cut and paste collage is a favorite medium, and she frequently also incorporates sewing techniques, thread, fabric, metal, wood, and other materials into her pieces. She says: “For me, collage is about juxtaposition (in materials, methods and content), the story, and usually a little touch of magical realism and mystery.” Photography credit: Lynn Skordal
Barbara Tetenbaum, Portland, OR
Gymnopaedie #5: A Day Without Words Letterpress relief and type; pressure printing; hybrid accordion/codex structure Edition of 33 I wrote this text while on sabbatical in Leipzig, Germany, pondering the need to remove language from my environment/brain and realizing how impossible that task is. The images came out of a desire to create a safe space/happy place for my stressed-out brain through the campaign season of 2016. Somehow these two impulses ended up in the same book. Photography credit: Barbara Tetenbaum
Todd Thyberg, Minneapolis, MN
Mister F Letterpress book Open edition I created this book to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. I reread the original story and broke it down into sections: the doctor’s childhood, his education, the creation of the monster, etc., and I sought imagery to help illustrate each section’s fundamental themes or ideas. I developed an accordion fold layout printed in 3 colors and then created a dyeline for a box and created artwork that would make the package look like an old leather-bound book. I chose to call my version Mister F. The original Frankenstein refers both to the creator and the created, so mine follows suit. The book breaks down in such a way that the first side of the accordion spread is the story from Doctor Frankenstein’s perspective and the reverse is the story from the monster’s perspective. Mister F refers to both of the men. All the copy was taken from the original, so each spread has a small bit of the original story, speaking in the original prose from Mary Shelley. Photography credit: Angel Bomb
Cynthia Laureen Vogt, Santa Fe, NM
Listening to the Darkness Mixed media photographic collage artist’s book My photographic collage works are meditations on the abstract mechanics of language, the body, and rhythm. Using the book form as a site for the gathering and dispersion of linguistic signs, I communicate time, absence, and movement through the photographic trace of figures and letters on layered surfaces—and vice versa; graphic symbols and anatomies are signified through cutaway absences. Their imagery is dominated by wooden block letters whose three-dimensional forms align them with the human body. This sense of depth, furthered by the strata of media, is drawn into contrast by cutting both around and against the characters. The collage elements become a meta-language—in themselves representations of the very text, paper, or support over which they are layered, occasionally verso-side out. Intermittent use of acetate transparencies produces subtle reflections that shift and change with the viewer’s position. Communication is never still, but a continual process. Photography credit: Cynthia Laureen Vogt
Cynthia Laureen Vogt, Santa Fe, NM
Little Black Book Mixed media photographic collage artist’s book My photographic collage works are meditations on the abstract mechanics of language, the body, and rhythm. Using the book form as a site for the gathering and dispersion of linguistic signs, I communicate time, absence, and movement through the photographic trace of figures and letters on layered surfaces—and vice versa; graphic symbols and anatomies are signified through cutaway absences. Their imagery is dominated by wooden block letters whose three-dimensional forms align them with the human body. This sense of depth, furthered by the strata of media, is drawn into contrast by cutting both around and against the characters. The collage elements become a meta-language—in themselves representations of the very text, paper, or support over which they are layered, occasionally verso-side out. Intermittent use of acetate transparencies produces subtle reflections that shift and change with the viewer’s position. Communication is never still, but a continual process. Photography credit: Cynthia Laureen Vogt
Bethany Wood, Iowa City, IA
(Don’t) Let Go Brass, copper, enamel tunnel book As a metalsmith, printmaker and book artist, I enjoy exploring the cross sections of metal arts and printing processes. As artists, we create our own detritus through the process of making, and these castoffs also come with a unique potential for reuse. One way this actively manifests within my work is through an exploration of the unique nature of mark making within sketches. Hastily gestural lines of sketches provide selective and sometimes abstracted information by describing notable or emphasized qualities of the subject. They are also used as an informal and generally unseen part of a planning or documenting process. I am interested in how these selectively descriptive styles of mark making can be translated or interpreted from one form or medium to another, as from drawing to metal, metal to object. In this translation, these marks relay specific information that not only describe the subject but also transform into a medium that embraces the abstraction of line and imagery. Photography credit: Bethany Wood
Bethany Wood, Iowa City, IA
Wood Family Album Brass, copper, sycamore bark, acrylic sealer As a metalsmith, printmaker and book artist, I enjoy exploring the cross sections of metal arts and printing processes. As artists, we create our own detritus through the process of making, and these castoffs also come with a unique potential for reuse. One way this actively manifests within my work is through an exploration of the unique nature of mark making within sketches. Hastily gestural lines of sketches provide selective and sometimes abstracted information by describing notable or emphasized qualities of the subject. They are also used as an informal and generally unseen part of a planning or documenting process. I am interested in how these selectively descriptive styles of mark making can be translated or interpreted from one form or medium to another, as from drawing to metal, metal to object. In this translation, these marks relay specific information that not only describe the subject but also transform into a medium that embraces the abstraction of line and imagery. Photography credit: Bethany Wood
Anne Beidler, Decatur, GA
INVITED WORK and the night enfolds her Accordion fold format As a printmaker, I have always been interested in overlay of print methods, using my own and found images. My work in the Memory Journeys Series contains layered levels, like pages, that become gateways that invite exploration and evoke the ancient. At the core is the concept of “the center out there� which ties us to our home place and people, while linking us to unknown places from our past and future. In general, my work includes a series of inter-related mixed-media books, paintings, and prints developed over many years of art making. Photography credit: Anne Beidler
Daniel Essig, Asheville, NC
INVITED WORK Sacred Geometry—Reliquary Carved olive wood, nails, pen nibs, relic, wax, mica, pottery, coin, shell, Ethiopian and Coptic bindings. I am interested in traces of the past, ancient binding styles, altered books, distressed finishes, and found objects. All my work has a Coptic book at its heart. The binding was first used about the fourth century, in Ethiopia or North Africa, or perhaps this is just the area where the books were best preserved. There are several distinct sewings known as Coptic. The style I use is known as Ethiopian. I use two needles for each length of thread, one on either end. I use wood covers and tunnel through the edge of the board to attach the text block. The historic sewing style, wooden boards, and the type of board attachment are what distinguish the Ethiopian style Coptic Binding. Photography Credit: Daniel Essig
John Risseeuw, Tempe, AZ
INVITED WORK BOOM! Accordion book with leather-bound covers. Letterpress and relief on shaped, variable paper handmade from the clothing of landmine victims, minefield plant fibers, and currency of mine-producing nations. Printed two sides in ten sections. Edition of 30. Photography Credit: John Risseeuw