I made my first handmade book in high school and have returned to the process again and again. In 2020 I began exploring some of the numerous handmade book formats made throughout the world. I love repurposing my art, using handmade papers, exploring various closures, creating sculptural forms and content.
Collage has always been very appealing to me. I created an award winning piece in high school and rediscovered the freedom and fun of the medium while taking a class in 2010. Immediately collage creeped into my travel journals and the rest of my art. Later, when I was introduced to Altered Books, I knew I had some projects just waiting to see the light of day!
Altered books are an art form where existing books are changed by painting, collaging and/or carving.
The Future: Education for Girls and Women
The 11 two-page spreads in this book create a visual tableau celebrating the ancestors and traditions of Ghana while it celebrates the importance of educating children- especially girls-because that has the greatest impact on eliminating poverty in developing nations.
John Marsden’s poem Prayer for the Twenty-first Century was published in the mid-90s. The horror of 9/11 and other worldwide atrocities since then have sent me back to Marsden’s book time and time again. Free of religious messages, the prayer addresses modern anxieties with the universal hope for a peaceful future. My altered book is my personal expression of his poem and the impact it has had on me.