As a fine artist, I first discovered and developed an interest in Book Arts in the mid-1990s. Books historically are highly designed objects. Traditional book craft offers many avenues for exploration—calligraphy, illuminated texts, letterpress printing, typography, leather work, marbling, fore-edge painting, ancient binding methods, miniatures, and more. Modern Book Arts incorporates inventive structures like pop-ups, creative rifts on sewn and hinged bindings, explorations in non-traditional materials, and altered books, among other innovations.
In recent decades, the field of Book Arts blossomed with flip books, pop-ups, carousels, and other folded-paper structures devised by artist-innovators like Hedi Kyle, who came up with the “flag book,” the “blizzard book,” and the “crown book,” all variations that begin with an accordion fold. I love playing with and improvising on these fun structures, and I love the fact that, along with text, virtually any two-dimensional artwork can be incorporated into a book: photography, collage, letterpress, painting and drawing, not to mention surface decoration of all kinds.
One of the things that appeals to me about this art form is its multidimensional nature. A book is essentially a three-dimensional container for a collection of two-dimensional pages, and each page can be considered a container for words and/or a canvas for visual expression. In my Book Arts practice, I strive to bring all the elements of a book (or book-like object)—text, visuals, form, and structure—into harmony with the idea or emotion it is meant to express.