Saturday 7 July 2012

1000 Artists Books



I arrived  home from Paris to find my copy of 1000 Artists Books waiting for me, and a luscious book it is.
I was pleased to have two books from my 2011 Disaster series included in the book, Tsunami and Shattered in the Shaky City.

I wanted Tsunami, evocative of the black waves of water rolling in over the landscape, to have a Japanese minimalist aesthetic.  I soaked Japanese paper in Sumi Ink and water, stitched the variable length scrolls together with a simple Japanese stab binding and presented the book in a leather roll.



With Shattered in the Shaky City, my idea was to show the city of Christchurch falling apart and lying as rubble on the ground.  When the book is extended it looks like this


This view of the book is of a later version with the addition of text which is slipping down and falling into piles in the folds and crevices.

1000 Artists Books is published by Quarry Books in the USA. The images on the pages do look clean without a lot of clutter, but I would  have liked the book title to have been included with the artist's name on the page with the image, rather than having to consult the index at the back.   I haven't examined the book thoroughly yet, but have noticed so far the work of other Australian Book Art Object artists, Gail Stiffe, Terence Uren, Sandra Winkworth, and a Melbourne book artist friend Marianne Little.

8 comments:

dinahmow said...

I also have Lark's 1000 Books and am entranced.
There is an added "warmth" in recognising familiar names and knowing some of the artists personally.
But, like Helen (and Hilke Kurzke, also represented ), I would have liked titles/makers with the pictures.
Still, it is a beauty.

ronnie said...

welllll now that I see YOUR beauties are inside I simply will HAVE to buy the book won't I?!!!! (ps - absolutely stunning stunning STUNNING books helen....... lurrrrrrve them)

Vicki said...

Big Congrats Helen, I will also be adding this book to my Amazon list.

Jacobus (Jack) Oudyn said...

Congratulations Helen,sounds like a beautiful book. I like your two, particularly the Tsunami one. Welcome back to sleepy Brisbane!

jac said...

I got the book earlier this week. Your work looks great. And yes, I'd have liked more information as well

Helen M said...

Thanks so much Di, ronnie, Vicki, Jack and Jac. I had a fabulous time, but I'm very happy to be back in sleepy old Brisbane and I'm looking forward to working on some books.

Fiona Dempster said...

Hi Helen

I really enjoyed seeing your work in the book along with other BAOers - Terence and Anna at the very least; I still haven't made it more than half way thru it. Your works are just wonderful - you must be proud and deservedly so. Enjoy your return...

Helen M said...

Thanks for your kind words Fiona, I'm still working my way through the book too and have picked up a few more BAO artists along the way. It's good to be back and I'm finally feeling over the jet lag.