Skip to main content

Is BOOK ARTS an art form?

For years I've been asked, "Is Book Arts art?" or "I've never heard of Book Arts, what is it?"  Recently, I've been asked to define Book Arts and classify it among other art forms.  Researching the history of artists' books, I found a wide range of definitions.  None sufficiently described what I've been doing.

Therefore, to better explain the types of books I create, I needed to delve deeper into the concept, idea, structure, and language of Book Arts. The next few blog posts will be dedicated to how I define Book Arts as a book artist.

Well, first of all, I am using Book Arts as a singular "uncountable noun."  


Uncountable (also non-count) nouns are used to describe a quality, concept, action, or substance that cannot be divided into separate elements.   Non-Count nouns also refer to a whole category made up of different varieties or a whole group of things that is made of many individual parts.


I have always thought of Book Arts as falling under this category -- "whole group of things that is made of many individual parts."




Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Born of Love, Shakespeare's Sonnet 151

Over the summer I worked on new artwork, Born of Love , inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 151. The book offers a translation of the sonnet to the language of textiles and embroidery.  Working on this book allowed me to explore the beauty of textiles from four continents.  Its construction is inspired by the poetic structure within the sonnet.  This book, along with two other of my art pieces, will be on exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library from 16 Sept 2024 - 9 Feb 2025.
Post a Comment
Read more

Evidence: The Art of Candy Jernigan

Art is Life I was introduced to Candy Jernigan's art and book when I was going through cancer treatment more than a decade ago.  Her meticulously arranged collages, paintings, and drawings have had a profound impact on the way I view art, life, and visual storytelling.   Before reading her book, I had never seen how powerful art journaling could be -- that it could also be an artistic tool for social commentary. Candy Jernigan (b. 1952- 1991) attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.  Soon after graduating she became a painter, set and costume designer in Provincetown, MA.  In Evidence , Stokes Howell wrote, " By the time she returned to New York in 1980 she was starting to develop the themes and methods she would work with the rest of her life."   Candy described the transformative process of taking found objects, "trash," and discarded materials from life and turning them into art: "In 1980, as I set out on my first trip to Europe, I decided...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flowers For Mistress Overdone, 2024

 Coded Threads: Translating Shakespeare Through Art The following is a page from Flowers For Mistress Overdone , the first of two books that I presented at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Nov 16. The pages for the books are created with textiles from 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America).  The textiles were collaged and sewn into various designs. The fabric on the left is a collage of American and Tanzanian fabrics that I combined with one of my linocuts.  The fabric on the right was an original mid century modern English quilt top I purchased at London's Antique Quilt Company during my summer in the UK researching Shakespeare's texts.  The owner, Christopher, sources the highest quality textiles and it was truly a joy to transform this quilt into pages of my books inspired by Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. It was wonderful to present a few of my original artworks and embroidered books during my talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library....
Post a Comment
Read more