Non-Books (2012-2020)

A while back, I took a half-day course in making handmade books. I loved it! And I made more. And more. And then some more. But I didn’t know what to do with all the blank books that were mounting up, staring at me accusingly from the shelf. There are only so many journals one can keep, and I’ve never been a journal person anyway. So. I decided to experiment with the book format, making non-books that are much more sculpture than they are books, with pages that can be turned, but that don’t really need to be. Channeling my guy, Joseph Cornell, I cut up old books about natural philosophy (now we call it physics) and astronomy. An old atlas. Brittle-paged songbooks. And my beloved Japanese papers.

The non-books can be displayed flat, but I like to sew them onto a piece of mat board and mount them in frames. Most have a nostalgic feel from the antiquated collage material, but some use photographs and deal with modern themes, like the corona virus. Regardless of their aura, they require slow looking.