ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I make color woodcut books in editions of 100. I start with the text and make images to complement and expand upon it. My images evolve through their creation as colors are separated and details accumulate or change. My books were initially written for my own children as they were learning to read. In time they began to address other audiences. My interest in handmade books was in having complete control over the process, and physical contact with the product. The results of labor and physical interaction with materials are important to me.
I use photography as a compositional tool, but improvise images by editing and combining as I work them into blocks. I explore overprinting as a way of creating depth or casting light. I also use wood grain as a graphic element, choosing patterns of grain to fit the occasion.
Most of my books are accompanied by editioned prints of individual pages to complement the book as a gallery exhibit. Each book contains the entire exhibit.
I print primarily on Vandercook flat bed proofing presses, primarily at the Morgan Art of Papermaking Conservatory and Zygote Press, both in Cleveland.
As a structure, books are a means to package significant amounts of information and control a narrative. While they are no longer the most efficient way to spread information, books create the possibility of shared experience, and as handmade objects artist books add to that shared experience the idea of direct contact with the artist.