Because I arrived at making books from being a printmaker I find myself to be a book artist rather than a bookbinder.
As an artist, I have chosen the cornucopia of printmaking as my form of expression. I get excited about ink and paper. The textures, the subtle build-up of sheen in successive ink layers, the gentle dimensionality impressions leave on the sheet, the feel of the printing blocks, the sounds, and the scents – it’s the whole mix. It is seductive, challenging, often surprising, never boring, and always exhilarating.
Printmaking and book arts share the same birth mother.
My book art extends, explores, and reexamines varying artistic disciplines. Making an artist's book creates a conceptual and curatorial space to sequence a visual or verbal narrative. Engaging typography enriches the work graphically.
Sometimes the work is type-driven, and I often think of the letter shapes as mark-making. Sometimes it is image-driven. Books substantially aid me as a printmaker, provide context, impart rhythm and a pulse, and provide a sculptural dimensionality not commonly found in printmaking. Artist’s books embody the text rather than just conveying it.
While my artist’s books explore new boundaries, they still retain the qualities that make them books: they are hand-printed multiples, rather than one-offs, vehicles for words to be read, and speak through images on the pages. That is, they are functional. My goal is to create exquisite books and make them appropriately handsome - but also to keep them “bookish” rather than becoming mere decorative objects.
By employing traditional and exploring new methods of image- and bookmaking the results connect me to our past and keep the work relevant. It allows me to speak with a contemporary voice grounded in the human experience, enlightened by different cultures.
