Artist Statement
In this new series I continue to question the past, present and future of the book by exploring and expanding the possibilities of the book's form and content. After a book or series of books is sealed into a solid form, I cut into the surface, reading with my knife one page or layer at a time. Fragmented images, words and ideas emerge to expose and create new relationships within the book's internal elements. In recent work I have shifted the focus to text and transcribed the visual poetry that emerges from the sculptures onto the printed page, highlighting a new light on the chance text while illustrating the clouds of ideas within a piece. For my Paper Back series, horizontal rows of multiple paperback books in specific genres are compressed and sanded into solid linear forms. The investigation into language, its possibilities and limitations continues as suggestive clichés are carved into the surface of the fictitious narratives. Hundreds of words and phrases are excavated within each letter, creating links and clusters of ideas. Words are torn from their original meaning and floating to latch onto new possibilities.
